Just because Indiana doesn't have DST now (for most of the state, anyway) doesn't mean they've always never had it. There was DST when I was growing up in the 70s, and they got rid of it long after agriculture was no longer the primary industry in Indiana.
Having grown up in Indiana farm country, I'm of the opinion that "DST because farmers" has always been a myth. One gets up with the sun no matter the time. You quit work when it's dark.
Oh, wait, that's not true, either. With the advent of electric lighting on vehicles about, oh, 100 years ago, lack of sun no longer need keep one from the fields. I recall many a late night that the farmer that owned the field next to us was out either tilling or harvesting, lights ablazin' on the front of the tractor or combine.
So we've eliminated the farmer myth, why do we have DST? Few like it, do I...follow the money?
The main justification for DST is that it saves energy. The actual evidence of this claim is rather mixed, although even reports that show that DST saved energy aren't necessarily finding that the reduced costs make up for the mere cost of having to switch clocks twice a year (which itself isn't particularly well-quantified).
The history of DST is distinct from agriculture, it was more strongly connected to factory work. It's easier to have every employee change their clock by an hour than change the schedule twice a year.
However, we've moved away from the need (mostly) for the potential energy savings, though perhaps for the wrong reasons (we work in offices and factories with little natural light). The remaining reason to keep it is to allow people access to daylight after their normal work hours. But this can be accomplished by shifting schedules. Move the standard start of work from 7 to 6:30, split the difference. And if that seems intractable, shift our time zones by 30 minutes and be done with it.
Having grown up in Indiana farm country, I'm of the opinion that "DST because farmers" has always been a myth. One gets up with the sun no matter the time. You quit work when it's dark.
Oh, wait, that's not true, either. With the advent of electric lighting on vehicles about, oh, 100 years ago, lack of sun no longer need keep one from the fields. I recall many a late night that the farmer that owned the field next to us was out either tilling or harvesting, lights ablazin' on the front of the tractor or combine.
So we've eliminated the farmer myth, why do we have DST? Few like it, do I...follow the money?