The Farmer’s Almanac started in 1818 when farmers didn’t have technology or publications. Farmers in that era depended on the Almanac for weather patterns and projected sunrises and sunsets. Sandi Duncan, editor of the Farmer’s Almanac, says there’s something unique in it for everyone.
“Like you said, it’s kind of a calendar of curiosities. It’s a calendar of weather forecasts. It’s a calendar for gardening and fishing. It’s a book. It’s a magazine. You know, it’s a good question. It’s kind of a book for everything. If you want to pick it up, you’ll learn something every day. We call it a magazine or a publication that comes out yearly, but it’s also kind of a brand. And what we tried to do over the years is trying to give people information that helps them plan their days and grow their lives.”
The Almanac has evolved through the years.
“Well, you know, it’s interesting because the Farmer’s Almanac started way back in 1818 when everybody was farmers. Obviously, at the time, there wasn’t a lot of technology or publications, so everybody depended on the almanac for the weather, as well as even the time of sunrise and sunset, because they needed to know what time to get out there and start working out there. So, as we’ve evolved, as well as the almanac, as well as the farming industry, I do believe that we still have a big farming audience. I would say that we’re more of a general publication. People who want to have big farms or the people who have just a backyard farm or garden. I should say.”
She talks about some of their more popular sections.
“We have a ‘Gardening by the Moon’ calendar that people look forward to. We have a frost calendar so if you want to pay attention to when your average frost dates are, and our Long Range weather forecast. We try to give people an idea of what may come the next four seasons ahead of you.”
Duncan talks about the Almanac’s long-range weather forecasts.
“The Farmer’s Almanac bases its long-range forecast on a formula that dates back to 1818. It’s a mathematical and astronomical formula, and pretty much it was a formula that our founding editor came up with, where he was able to set a bunch of rules that kind of followed celestial things in the sky with meteorological events. Now, we have altered the formula somewhat over the years, but we still pretty much follow the formula, and it looks at things like sunspot activity, tidal acts of the moon, and positions of the planets.”
For more information on the almanac, go to farmersalmanac.com.