HOUSTON — When it comes to changing our clocks twice a year, you have probably heard the old wives' tale that we do it to help farmers. In fact, the opposite is true. According to Nebraska Public Media, farmers and the agriculture industry were some of the biggest opponents to the move. In 1918, when the U.S. started messing with the clocks, the agriculture industry lobbied hard against daylight saving time.
The idea behind daylight saving time was to save on energy consumption. This helped people in cities who relied on clocks for everything from when to show up to work, to when to eat dinner. However, crops and cows can’t read clocks. When the change to daylight saving was made official in 1966, farmers were forced to balance their duties on the farm with getting those products to town on time.
RELATED: When does daylight saving time end?
Think of it this way, say you are a dairy farmer, and you always milk your cows at 5 a.m. In the fall, when the clock moves back an hour then you are forced to milk those cows an hour later because the milk truck is sticking to its schedule. This explains why farmers continue to support legislation like the Sunshine Protection Act that would do away with changing the clock.