The farmer from the “It Ain't Much, But It's Honest Work” meme has died and the internet is mourning his passing. Farmer Dave Brandt rose to prominence in 2014 thanks to the online meme that featured a picture of him with the caption: “It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.” The image of Brandt, an Ohio farmer and “soil health pioneer”, originally came from a United States Department of Agriculture article but it wasn’t until 2018 that the image became a meme with the added caption. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter It became a meme when it was posted on a Reddit channel about meme culture, as part of a joke about original content being stolen and gaining thousands of upvotes. Now, the internet has been left bereft after learning that Brandt died suddenly after sustaining significant injuries in an accident on Saturday 20 May after reportedly being “ejected from his truck”, according to the Ohio NoTill Council. As well as being mourned by the online community, Brandt’s passing has also hit the farming community hard. He was considered a “pioneer” in soil health and was a leading researcher in no-till farming methods that allow farming without damaging the soil. One mourner tweeted: “David Brandt changed the world by simply farming his little piece of land in Ohio and telling all who were open to hear about it.” Another wrote: “Your honest work on earth is done. Rest In Peace, sir.” “Rest in Peace, Dave Brandt. One of the pioneers of no-till farming,” tweeted another. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.