Old Farmers Day

What the day is

Old Farmers Day is observed on October 12. It honors the people who grow the country's food and the long tradition of American farming, and it is not an official federal holiday. Its origins are not clearly documented, and it should not be confused with the Old Farmer's Almanac, which is a separate publication.

October is a sensible month for the recognition. In much of the United States the main harvest is in or close to done, which is the one stretch of the year when a farming family can ease off and look at how the season went.

Origin and background

Farming shaped the early American economy and settlement patterns. European settlers cleared fields and brought seeds and methods with them, but they also learned a great deal from the people who were already farming here. Native American growers practiced hilling, mounding soil around plants, and the Three Sisters system, in which corn, beans and squash are planted together so each helps the others, which European farmers adopted and adapted.

Today farming employs a small share of American workers, well under two percent by most federal counts, yet it supplies food for a large country and a great deal of export trade. The work remains physically hard and financially uncertain. Weather, pests, equipment costs and market prices can turn a good year into a bad one, and the average farmer in the United States is now in their late fifties, which is a growing concern for the industry's future.

How to take part

• Buy something directly from a farmer: at a farmers market, a farm stand or a community-supported agriculture share.
• Thank a farmer you know, or write to a local farm to say you appreciate the work.
• Cook a meal built around what is in season in your area and notice where each ingredient came from.
• Visit a pumpkin patch, orchard or working farm that welcomes guests.
• Read about the history of agriculture in your region, or ask an older relative about farming in the family.