The first edition came out in 1818
A popular guide farmers and gardeners use for weather forecasts won’t be available after this year.
After 208 years, the Farmers’ Almanac is ceasing operation.
“It is with a 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,” Editor Sandi Duncan said in a Nov. 6 press release.
The 2026 almanac, available now, will be the final edition of the seasonal weather guide.
And access to archived digital content will discontinue in December.
One article about weaning calves by the moon related to the almanac is a popular choice for Farms.com readers.
The first edition of the almanac came out in 1818, the same year Illinois became the 21st U.S. state, and Paul Revere died.
In addition to weather, the 36-page first edition showed the anatomy of a man’s body according to the constellations, tips on how to raise cattle, and how to repair exhausted ground.
The 2023 edition of the almanac had 110 pages.
At the time, the almanac had 510,000 copies in circulation and a total readership of 1.2 million people, a media kit says.
But times have changed.
The Farmers’ Almanac website cites financial challenges associated with producing and distributing the book in “today’s chaotic media environment” as reasons for stopping production.
Print publications like the almanac need advertisers to help cover production costs. And those dollars are drying up as digital media takes over.
Available data shows U.S. print advertisers spent more than $81 billion in 2017. By 2023 that number dropped to just over $41 billion.
And the almanac isn’t the first publication to close or move away from print production because of costs.
Newsweek stopped its print edition in 2012. ESPN The Magazine ceased printing in 2019, and Popular Science transitioned to a digital only format in 2021.