The Old Farmer's Almanac: History, Yankee Publishing Profile, Content and Staff
Profile updated November 2026
The Old Farmer's Almanac is the oldest continuously published periodical in North America. Robert B. Thomas started it in 1792, and it is still edited in the small town of Dublin, New Hampshire, by Yankee Publishing, which prints well over two million copies of each annual edition.
| Founded | 1792, first edition for the year 1793 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Robert Bailey Thomas, editor until his death in 1846 |
| Publisher | Yankee Publishing Inc., Dublin, New Hampshire |
| Address | 1121 Main Street, P.O. Box 520, Dublin, NH 03444 |
| Frequency | Annual, with U.S. regional and Canadian editions |
| Editor in Chief | Carol Connare, 14th editor, since 2023 |
| Official website | Almanac.com |
History of The Old Farmer's Almanac
Robert Bailey Thomas published the first edition, then called The Farmer's Almanac, in 1792 for the year 1793. He edited it until his death in 1846 and devised the weather forecasting formula that the almanac says is still kept in a black tin box at its Dublin office. Forecasts are prepared up to 18 months ahead using solar activity, astronomical cycles and weather patterns.
The almanac has its share of legends. Abraham Lincoln may have used an edition in the 1858 murder trial of William Duff Armstrong, though which almanac he used is disputed. When the 1938 edition dropped weather forecasts, readers protested and forecasts came back the next year. During World War II, censorship rules led it to print weather indications instead of forecasts, and a German spy caught in New York in 1942 reportedly carried a copy.
Robb Sagendorph, founder of Yankee Inc. and Yankee Magazine, bought the almanac from Little, Brown and Company in 1939 and edited it until his death in 1970. His nephew Judson D. Hale Sr. later led it and became Editor Emeritus with the 2025 edition. Janice Stillman, the first woman editor, served from 2000 to 2023, when Carol Connare became the 14th editor.
The Old Farmer's Almanac Today
Circulation is reported at more than 2.5 million. In January 2026 NH Business Review reported that the almanac sold more than 2.3 million copies of its 2026 edition and reprinted 137,000 copies when stock ran out over the holidays, after its Maine rival announced it was closing. Its executive digital editor said the almanac was not going anywhere.
There are three U.S. editions, keyed to Boston, Atlanta and San Francisco astronomical data, plus a Canadian edition fitted to Ottawa since 1982 and The Old Farmer's Almanac for Kids, started in 2005. The brand also includes gardening guides, calendars, a hole-punched edition for hanging in a barn, Almanac.com and email newsletters.
What The Old Farmer's Almanac Is Publishing Now
Long-range weather
Regional forecasts for the year ahead, built on the almanac's traditional formula and now including sunspot observations.
Astronomy and calendars
Sunrise and sunset tables, moon phases, tide times, eclipses and the planting calendars that gardeners plan by.
Gardening, food and folklore
Planting guides, recipes, home remedies, history and the dry humor that has filled its pages since the 1790s.
The Old Farmer's Almanac Editors and Staff
The almanac's own editors and staff page lists:
- Carol Connare - Editor in Chief
- Sherin Pierce - Publisher
- Sarah Perreault - Managing Editor
- Heidi Stonehill - Executive Editor
- Catherine Boeckmann - Executive Digital Editor
- Tim Goodwin - Senior Editor
- Jamie Trowbridge - CEO, Yankee Publishing Inc.
Judson D. Hale Sr., the former editor in chief, is Editor Emeritus. Reader questions go through the contact form on Almanac.com.
Who Reads The Old Farmer's Almanac
Readers are gardeners, farmers, anglers, weather watchers and anyone who likes a calendar with personality. Many are hobby growers and small farmers; the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted about 1.9 million U.S. farms, 95% of them family farms, and the almanac's planting tables still hang in plenty of their barns.
Almanac readers have been trading weather lore and planting-by-the-moon arguments since the 1790s, and they appreciate a straight face. For more of that spirit, farm.FM publishes farm satire and farm humor in a deadpan rural voice, with ranch humor for the cattle country editions. Its farm jokes come with no long-range forecast, which may be the safer bet.
farm.FM, the nation's first satirical farm site, also runs Tractor Tunes, a country music lineup for farmers. For a sample of the writing, try the archive of one of its staff humorists.
The Old Farmer's Almanac Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Wikipedia: Old Farmer's Almanac - history, editors and editions.
- NH Business Review: forecast calls for continued publication - 2026 sales and staff.
- Keene Sentinel: the almanac's 14th editor - Carol Connare profile.
- USDA NASS: 2022 Census of Agriculture release - national farm counts.
- ATTRA (NCAT): Census insight - small farm statistics.
The Old Farmer's Almanac FAQ
When was The Old Farmer's Almanac founded?
Robert B. Thomas founded it in 1792; the first edition was for the year 1793.
Who publishes The Old Farmer's Almanac?
Yankee Publishing Inc. of Dublin, New Hampshire, which has owned it since 1939.
Who edits The Old Farmer's Almanac?
Carol Connare, the 14th editor, has been editor in chief since 2023.
Is it the same as the Farmers' Almanac?
No. The Farmers' Almanac is a separate publication founded in 1818 in New Jersey.
More than 230 editions in, The Old Farmer's Almanac still forecasts, advises and amuses from the same small New Hampshire town.