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Indiana · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in DeKalb County, Indiana

DeKalb County had 10 maple operations and 492 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Auburn, sap usually runs from February 14 to March 17. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 131 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 14
typical year
Season ends
Mar 17
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
39.7
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
492
#22 of 42 in IN

Sap-flow outlook at Auburn right now

Full Indiana forecast →

Forecast for Auburn, IN

Updated Oct 6, 9:30 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. DeKalb County's season usually opens around February 14, which is 131 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    52° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    50° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 75°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: National Weather Service. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Auburn

Freeze-thaw weather at Auburn peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 61% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 14 – Mar 170246Week of Dec 1: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 14
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Auburn, 1991–2026. A sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. The shaded band is the typical season.

Year-to-year spread

Opening signal
Median Feb 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 7 and Feb 27. Earliest Jan 19 (2017), latest Mar 9 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 22; middle half between Mar 10 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 18 (2017), latest Apr 7 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan13%Feb21%Mar32%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

DeKalb County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Auburn was 2018 with 57 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 24. Seasons that start early tend to end early too: the trees run on the swing between freezing nights and mild days, and heat ends it.
JanFebMarAprMaysap days20262026: Feb 3 – Mar 4, 41 sap days4120252025: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 4 – Mar 3, 37 sap days3720232023: Jan 29 – Feb 27, 44 sap days4420222022: Feb 16 – Mar 14, 48 sap days4820212021: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 43 sap days4320202020: Feb 14 – Mar 19, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 38 sap days3820182018: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 57 sap days5720172017: Jan 19 – Feb 18, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 7 – Mar 7, 43 sap days4320152015: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 30 sap days3020142014: Mar 9 – Apr 7, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 5 – Apr 5, 42 sap days4220122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 28 – Mar 27, 28 sap days2820092009: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 41 sap days4120082008: Mar 2 – Apr 5, 35 sap days3520072007: Feb 19 – Mar 21, 33 sap days3320062006: Feb 5 – Mar 8, 47 sap days4720052005: Feb 27 – Mar 29, 33 sap days3320042004: Feb 20 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3920032003: Feb 21 – Mar 15, 24 sap days2420022002: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 54 sap days5420012001: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 39 sap days3920002000: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 26 – Feb 25, 43 sap days4319971997: Feb 16 – Mar 23, 46 sap days4619961996: Feb 19 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4219951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 38 sap days3819941994: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 5 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3419921992: Feb 2 – Mar 2, 41 sap days4119911991: Feb 15 – Mar 17, 41 sap days41
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Auburn. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

DeKalb County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In DeKalb County the 2022 Census found 10 farms making syrup (+233% since 2017), with taps +9% and syrup output +262% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.15 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.05 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, DeKalb County ranks 315 by taps.

DeKalb County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202210492760.15
20173450210.05

Nearby

Neighboring maple counties

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each county's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the PRISM 4-km grid cell at Auburn (846ft), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under 30.2 °F followed by an afternoon high over 37.4 °F. Each season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits five weeks before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. Tested against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates, the rule lands within 5.5 days of the reported close and 6.6 days of the reported opening on average, and the typical dates shown here are scaled to Indiana's USDA record (3 years). Production figures are copied from the Census as published. Full method, calibration tables and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 6

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Indiana, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu
  3. 3.Applied Climate Information System (ACIS) web services · NOAA Regional Climate Centers
  4. 4.USDA NASS maple syrup reports — approximate average season opened and closed dates, 2011–2022 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (mirrored by the University of Vermont)
  5. 5.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  6. 6.GeoNames gazetteer (cities500), CC BY 4.0 · GeoNames

FAQ

DeKalb County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in DeKalb County, Indiana?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 14 near Auburn and the season winds down around March 17. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of freezing nights and 40 °F days. In the past 36 seasons the weather signal came as early as Jan 19 and as late as Mar 9.
How much maple syrup does DeKalb County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 10 maple operations in DeKalb County with 492 taps producing 76 gallons of syrup, ranking 22 of 42 Indiana's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does DeKalb County get in a season?
On average 39.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Auburn, of which about 14.4 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (57 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (24).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Auburn (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Indiana. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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