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Iowa · county maple atlas

Maple syrup in Iowa, county by county

Iowa had 87 maple operations running 23,903 taps in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, led by Chickasaw County. Pick a county for its typical season dates, 36 seasons of sap weather and this week's forecast.
Maple farms, 2022
87
+64% since 2017
Taps, 2022
23,903
+73% since 2017
Gallons of syrup
8,096
0.34 gal per tap
Counties with a page
6
of 26 with maple farms

Reading the map

Where Iowa's sugaring happens

Chickasaw County alone holds 2,620 taps (11% of the state). Counties shaded lightest have the fewest taps; grey counties reported fewer than five maple farms and have no atlas page. Click any county for its season calendar.

USDA publishes no season dates for Iowa, so the county dates below are the unadjusted weather signal. In neighboring states with records, producers reported seasons running one to three weeks later than this rule, so treat these as early-side estimates.

Every county

Iowa maple production and season dates by county

Farms, taps and gallons from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, with the change in taps since 2017. Season dates are each county's typical year from 36 seasons of daily temperatures.
Iowa maple syrup production by county, 2022 Census of Agriculture, with typical season dates
CountyFarmsTapsGallonsTaps vs 2017Sap usually runs
Chickasaw42,620540—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Winneshiek62,314888—Mar 4 – Apr 3
Fayette42,000510—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Johnson937047—Feb 20 – Mar 26
Floyd524227—Mar 4 – Apr 2
Linn322827—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Buchanan38514—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Bremer3709—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Hardin55011—Feb 27 – Mar 31
Story43310—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Marshall4324—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Howard3245—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Allamakee000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Benton000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Boone000-100%fewer than 5 farms · no page
Cedar000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Clarke000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Dallas000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Delaware000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Des Moines000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Jefferson000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Jones000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Mahaska000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Marion000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Mitchell000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Montgomery000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Poweshiek000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Scott000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Shelby000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Van Buren000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Wayne000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Woodbury000—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Clayton8withheldwithheld—Mar 3 – Apr 3
Dubuque8withheldwithheld—Feb 26 – Mar 29
Clay2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Kossuth2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Tama2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Union2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Worth2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Wright2withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Jackson1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Keokuk1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Lyon1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Monona1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Polk1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Washington1withheldwithheld—fewer than 5 farms · no page
Iowa total8723,9038,096+73%

“Withheld” = USDA suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing individual operations. County totals need not sum to the state total for that reason.

About this page

Production figures are copied, unchanged, from Table 37 of the 2022 Census of Agriculture county volume for Iowa. Season dates come from our county maple atlas: 36 seasons of daily temperatures at each county seat scored with the freeze-thaw rule behind our live forecast, calibrated against 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates. How the atlas is built, and the downloadable dataset →

Sources · 3

  1. 1.2022 Census of Agriculture, County Level Data — Iowa, Table 37: Maple Syrup, 2022 and 2017 · USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
  2. 2.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)
  3. 3.PRISM daily temperature grids (AN81d, 4 km), accessed 2026-10-05 · PRISM Group, Oregon State University, https://prism.oregonstate.edu

FAQ

Iowa maple questions

Which county in Iowa makes the most maple syrup?
Chickasaw County, with 2,620 taps and 540 gallons of syrup across 4 farms in the 2022 Census of Agriculture, about 11% of the state's taps. USDA withheld totals for 14 counties to protect individual farms, so the ranking covers published counties.
How many maple producers are there in Iowa?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 87 farms producing maple syrup in Iowa (53 in 2017), with 23,903 taps and 8,096 gallons of syrup. The Census counts farms, so backyard sugarmakers who don't sell are not included.
Where does the sap run first in Iowa?
By our weather record, Johnson County (Iowa City) typically starts around February 20, while Winneshiek County (Decorah) starts around March 4, a spread of about 12 days across the state.

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