A lesser-known Farmers’ Almanac will fold after 2 centuries, citing money trouble

Farmers' Almanac editor Sondra Duncan and publisher Peter Geiger pose in a corn field with the 2012 edition of the almanac, Aug. 24, 2011, in Auburn, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

PORTLAND, Maine — It’s the Maine one, not the main one — a 208-year-old, Maine-based publication that farmers, gardeners and others have relied on for planting guidance and weather predictions will publish for the final time.

The Farmers Almanac, not to be confused with its older, longtime competitor, The Old Farmer’s Almanac in neighboring New Hampshire, said Thursday that its 2026 edition will be its last. The almanac cited the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the book in today’s “chaotic media environment.” Access to the online version will cease next month.

Farmers Almanac was first printed in 1818 and the Old Farmer’s Almanac started in 1792, and it’s believed to be the oldest continually published periodical in North America. Both almanacs used secret formulas based on sunspots, planetary positions and lunar cycles to generate long-range weather forecasts.

“It is with a heavy heart,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a statement, “that we share the end of what has not only been an annual tradition in millions of homes and hearths for hundreds of years, but also a way of life, an inspiration for many who realize the wisdom of generations past is the key to the generations of the future.”

Editors at the other publication noted there’s been some confusion between the two. “The OLD Farmer’s Almanac isn’t going anywhere,” they posted online.

The two publications come from an era where hundreds of almanacs served a nation of farmers over time. Most were regional publications and no longer exist. Farmers Almanac was founded in New Jersey and moved its headquarters to Lewiston, Maine, in 1955.

‘Quaint relic’

They contain gardening tips, trivia, jokes and natural remedies, like catnip as a pain reliever or elderberry syrup as an immune booster. But its weather forecasts make the most headlines.

Scientists sometimes disputed the accuracy of the predictions, and the reliability of the secret formula. Studies of the almanacs’ accuracy have found them to be a little more than 50% accurate, or slightly better than random chance.

The almanac was a “quaint relic” with a special kind of charm, but its use as a forecasting tool was debatable, said Val Kiddings, a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and a longtime researcher of science and agriculture.

“It might have had some value looking back, as a historical indicator,” Giddings said, “but I never took any of its prognostications at all seriously.”

Readers, saddened to hear the news, posted online about how they used it in their families for generations as a guide to help them plant gardens and follow the weather.

In 2017, when Farmers’ Almanac reported a circulation of 2.1 million in North America, its editor said it was gaining new readers among people interested in where their food came from and who were growing fresh produce in home gardens. It developed followers online and sent a weekly email to readers in addition to its printed editions.

Many of these readers lived in cities, prompting the publication to feature skyscrapers as well as an old farmhouse on its cover.

Among Farmers’ Almanac articles from the past is one from 1923 urging folks to remember “old-fashioned neighborhoodliness” in the face of newfangled technology like cars, daily mail and telephones. Editors urged readers in 1834 to abandon tobacco and in 1850 promoted the common bean leaf to combat bedbugs.

The almanac had some forward-thinking advice for women in 1876, telling them to learn skills to avoid being dependent on finding a husband. “It is better to be a woman than a wife, and do not degrade your sex by making your whole existence turn on the pivot of matrimony,” it counselled.

___

By Patrick Whittle And Kathy McCormack

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.