Farmer's Almanac To Shutter After 207 Years Of Publication

This year's edition of the Farmer's
Almanac will be its last. It had 
been published yearly since 1818,

 The Farmers' Almanac, a yearly publication that's been around since 1818 is going away. 

The recently released 2026 edition will be its last.

"It is with heavy heart 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," said Editor Sandi Duncan.

In a statement on the Farmers' Almanac website, today's "chaotic media environment" were blamed for the decision to close. 

"Though the Almanac will no longer be available in print or online, its spirit will live on in the values it championed: simplicity sustainability and connection to nature," the message on the publication's website said. 

The Farmers' Almanac was started in 1818 by David Young, a 37-year-old poet and astronomer.  That initial 36-page copy in 1818 contained "Lunations, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Judgement of the Weather and the "Rising and Setting of the Planets." 

And other nuggets of wisdom, of course. 

According to the Washington Post, by some accounts, Abraham Lincoln, used the Farmers'Almanac to help a client avoid a murder conviction. A witness said there was a full moon at 11 p.m. on the night of the murder. But that night, the moon was in its first quarter, and set at 11:57 p.m.

The Farmers' Almanac reached its peak from the Depression era of the mid-1930s to around the mid 1990s. 

Raymond Geiger, whose company, the Geiger Brothers, took over the Almanac in 1934. Its circulation was 86,000 at the time Geiger took over. By the time Geiger died in 1994, the circulation had increased to 4 million. 

The Almanac claimed its weather forecasts for the year, which it said is 85 percent accurate. Most scientists give publications like the Farmers' Almanac about a 50 percent accuracy rate, but that's another story.  

For the record, the Farmers' Almanac's final weather prediction says that New England is in for a "cold, snow-filled" winter season.

Fans of the Farmers' Almanac are crushed by the news. 

"Please don't go. I've grown up with you and want to keep growing older together," one reader wrote. Another said. "I have had FA in may home every year since I was 19 years old. I am now in my 70s. The wit, wisdom and weather have been like a wonderful old friend to me."

The Farmers' Almanac is not to be confused with the Old Farmer's Almanac, that familiar one with the yellow cover. That one is going full steam ahead. The Old Farmers Almanac has been existence since 1792, longer than the soon to be defunct Farmer's Almanac. 

"Rest assured, as sure as the Sun will rise, The Old Farmer's Almanac- with our familiar yellow cover.......will be around for generations to come," the Old Farmer's Almanac said in a Facebook post.  

Meanwhile, the final edition of the Farmer's Almanac can be purchased on Amazon or in numerous retail stores. Its online presence will go dark in December. 

The editors' final statement was poignant. "So go ahead - plant your peas when the daffodils bloom. Watch for a red sky at night. Tell your kids how grandad always swore by the Almanac....That's how our story stays alive"