The 2018 Old Farmer's Almanac has been released.

In addition to what most people turn to first - the weather predictions, for which the Almanac claims an 80 percent accuracy - the 304-page volume offers a special report on the future and faces of farming, a feature on how eating chicken became so popular, a look at the potential connection between a child's birthday and their personality, and the answer to "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

Back to the weather.

The 2018 Almanac says nationwide, next year will be much colder than last year, but still warmer than an average winter. (How's that for covering the averages?) Rain and snow precipitation will be higher than normal across most of the country.

In the regionalized forecast, however, the almanac is calling for a mild winter, a rainy spring, a hot summer, and a "slightly cooler and drier than normal" September and October in the Northeast. Detailed forecasts are offered within the Almanac.

As always, the 2018 edition of the Almanac includes everything readers have come to expect: planting charts, sunrise and moon phases, recipes, fishing charts, and "an overabundance of wit and wisdom for those in all walks of life," its editors promise.

Editor Janice Stillman in a press release called the Almanac "a calendar, a time capsule of the year, that aims to be of use to people of all walks of life, with information and insights that bear a pleasant degree of humor.

"We promote country values and traditional ideals - farm, family, and friends; home and hearth - because they are eternal and common to all," she added. The publication - celebrating its 226th consecutive annual publication this year - survives, Ms Stillman said, "because it stays true to its mission."

This year's edition also includes 32 reference pages covering best fishing days, tides, eclipses, and moon phases.

Still printed in the United States, still done by Yankee Publishing Inc in Dublin, N.H., and still featuring "a free hole for hanging up in your outhouse (string not included)," the cover price for the print edition of the 2018 Old Farmer's Almanac is $6.99. It can be purchased  on many newsstands. Those who want to save a tree and go the contemporary route with the traditional tome can also do so, via almanac.com, the iTunes store, and amazon.com.