The Old Farmer's Almanac
by Yankee Publishing Inc and Old Farmer's Almanac Staff
Shares rank 7 of 15 reference books by recommenders
People recommend it for its long-range forecasts, gardening and home tips, and tables; critics say its forecasts are about 50% accurate.
People recommend it for its long-range forecasts, gardening and home tips, and tables; critics say its forecasts are about 50% accurate.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Impressive long-range forecasting effort
“doing it a year+ ahead of time and getting similar results/accuracy is actually quite impressive”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell” Helpful home and gardening tips
“Both have helpful little home tips and quite a bit of gardening advice.”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell” Enjoyable tabulated data
“I always enjoy reading through those tabulated stuff”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Forecasts about 50% accurate
“Neither is accurate tho. Both are around 50%.”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell” “it’s been found to come out to about ~50%+ under scrutiny”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell” “They are equally unreliable, and only rarely agree”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “Weather Prediction Markets Are Booming. Can They Improve Forecasts?” General-purpose book serves poorly
“the general purpose nature of the book serves it poorly”
Comment from 7 Nov 2025 in “A Fond Farewell”
Other reference books people recommend
The four most recommended other reference books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encyclopaedia Britannicaby Jan Morris | 29 | 8 | 78% | 11 | — | Approved |
| 507 Mechanical Movementsby Henry T. Brown | 12 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
| The Ashley Book of Knotsby Clifford Ashley | 8 | 1 | 89% | 4 | — | — |
| World Book Encyclopediaby World Book | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
| The Old Farmer's Almanacby Yankee Publishing Inc and Old Farmer's Almanac StaffThis page | 4 | 4 | 50% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“They are equally unreliable, and only rarely agree”
“Neither is accurate tho. Both are around 50%.”
“doing it a year+ ahead of time and getting similar results/accuracy is actually quite impressive”
“it’s been found to come out to about ~50%+ under scrutiny”
“the general purpose nature of the book serves it poorly”
“I always enjoy reading through those tabulated stuff”
“Both have helpful little home tips and quite a bit of gardening advice.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.