The Farmers’ Almanac, which had announced last fall it would halt print and online publishing by the end of 2025, will now continue under new ownership.
The Almanac, a two-century-old annual source of long-range weather forecasts for farmers in the U.S. and Canada, said in a statement dated Jan. 28 it has been acquired by Tim Konrad, a New York City-based online publisher who operates Unofficial Networks, a news and feature site for skiing and outdoor enthusiasts.
Read Also
Do More Ag to fund rural groups’ mental health workshops
The Do More Agriculture Foundation announced on Monday that it had opened applications for its 2026 Community Fund for Mental Health, which funds and supports rural communities to host mental health workshops.
WHY IT MATTERS: Regardless of how their weather forecasts check out, the almanacs have been a source of entertainment for farmers in both the U.S. and Canada for generations.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed in announcements from the Almanac or Unofficial Networks, nor did the new owner say whether any of the Almanac’s Canada-facing print and online content will also continue. Email messages to the new publisher haven’t yet been returned.
“I saw the announcement that one of America’s most enduring publications was set to close, and it felt wrong to stand by while an irreplaceable piece of our national heritage disappeared,” Konrad said in the announcement.
Konrad, also a co-founder of maritime and shipping news site GCaptain.com, said the Almanac will for now remain “fully accessible online” and “plans are underway to revive and expand the cherished annual print edition in future volumes.”
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.
Peter Geiger, the Almanac’s previous publisher, said he’s “confident (Konrad) will honour its heritage and carry it forward for generations to come.”
‘Secret weather formula’
The Almanac last November said its plans to close “reflect(ed) the growing financial challenges of producing and distributing … in today’s chaotic media environment.”
The print version of the Farmers’ Almanac is 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.
It 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 column in recent years has included regular Prairie weather outlooks which tracked and compared the accuracy of the previous 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.
