The Farmers’ Almanac, a two-century-old annual source of long-range weather forecasts for farmers in the U.S. and Canada, says it will halt its print and online publishing by the end of the year.
The Almanac most recently has been produced by Almanac Publishing Co. of Lewiston, Maine, offering an annual journal featuring regional weather forecasts based on a “secret weather formula,” plus astronomy information, folklore and assorted advice for farmers and home gardeners.
In an online message to readers Nov. 6, the publisher said its decision “reflects the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing the Almanac in today’s chaotic media environment.”
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“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,” editor Sandi Duncan said in the message.
First published by Jacob Mann of Morristown, N.J. in 1818, the Almanac was eventually taken up by the Geiger family, whose publishing firm had printed the book starting in 1933 and acquired full ownership of the almanac business in 1949.
Duncan and the book’s editor emeritus, Peter Geiger, said in a separate Nov. 6 statement that the Almanac’s website will remain online until December this year, while the 2026 print edition of the book will be its last.
The Farmers’ Almanac is not to be confused with the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a separate annual journal now operated by Yankee Publishing of New Hampshire. That book dates back to 1792, when it was launched by farmer Robert B. Thomas, making long-range forecasts based on what the publisher describes as “a complex series of natural cycles and observations.”
In the Manitoba Co-operator, weather expert Daniel Bezte’s regular column in recent years has included monthly Prairie weather outlooks which track and compare the accuracy of the previous month’s outlook against those of both almanacs and of established Canadian and U.S. weather forecasting models.
Bezte’s monthly outlooks and other weather columns can be found here.
