Farms.com Home   Ag Industry News

Farming has its own fair share of superstitions

Friday the 13th affects every industry in some fashion

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

It’s that day of the year.

When people take extra care not to walk under a ladder, make sure they avoid black cats and do everything in their power not to break a mirror and suffer through seven years of bad luck.

The day that’s the namesake of a series of slasher movies and when motorcycle enthusiasts make their pilgrimage to Port Dover, Ontario – Friday the 13th.

Every industry has their own way of ensuring Friday the 13th hopefully brings them nothing but good luck. For instance, Cleveland’s Hopkins International airport doesn’t have a Gate 13. In the real estate business, some believe if St. Joseph, the patron saint of home and family, is buried in the yard of the house the real estate agent is trying to sell, it will sell faster.

It seems farming and agriculture has its own superstitions, too.

Katherine Grossman, from Pennsylvania, described three of them.

“Keep a smelly billy goat with your cows and they’ll never get sick,” she said via Twitter. “Never plant peas or beans on the day that baking is done (and) to cure founder in horses from over feeding grain, pee on their hay before feeding.”

When it comes to machinery, some farmers will refuse Friday deliveries because if the machine breaks down, the repairmen aren’t available on weekends.

Some farmers believe the moon plays a large factor in the success of their crops and therefore anything that grows aboveground should be planted when the moon is waxing (transitioning from a new moon to full moon) to get the best results possible.

“Counting your crop before it’s harvested (or your chickens before they’re hatched) is bad luck,” said the people from @AgMoreThanEver on Twitter.

There are some superstitions that suggest animals can predict the weather. Some believe if horses are acting restless that rain is coming or if farm animals with fur will grow a thicker coat, the winter is going to be harsh.

Unfortunately, for those that are extremely superstitious, today isn’t the only Friday the 13th that 2015 has to offer. There’s still two more – Friday, March 13, and Friday, November 13.

Join the conversation and describe some other superstitions, or if the ones mentioned actually work.


Friday the 13th


Trending Video

Funds Ditch Ag Commodities, Chase Stocks Amid an End to Middle East War, & Trade Deal Buzz

Video: Funds Ditch Ag Commodities, Chase Stocks Amid an End to Middle East War, & Trade Deal Buzz


The 12-day war between Iran-Israel came to an end sending crude oil futures plunging as the big fund speculators removed the war risk premium.

The weather risk premium in the Ag complex is sending corn, wheat and soybean futures lower on month-end selling ahead of the market moving USDA quarterly grain stocks and acreage reports on June 30th.

Instead, funds were chasing and sending tech stocks higher with the S&P 500/NASDAQ indexes setting new all-time record highs!

June 1 USDA Hogs and pigs report was slightly bearish while the U.S. $ Index traded to new contract lows as the de-dollarization that began in 2014 continues.

Feed in the form of soybean meal futures for livestock producers got cheaper, trading to new contract lows.

The Stats Canada seeded acreage update was bullish canola and wheat.