Skip to content
LuckySap
Get the app
Maine · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Franklin County, Maine

Franklin County had 45 maple operations and 18,235 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Farmington, sap usually runs from March 9 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 154 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 9
typical year
Season ends
Apr 16
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
44.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
18,235
#8 of 16 in ME

Sap-flow outlook at Farmington right now

Full Maine forecast →

Forecast for Farmington, ME

Updated Oct 6, 6:54 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    30° / 59°

    4h below · 20h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    42° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    40° / 59°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    37° / 58°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    36° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    46° / 69°
    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 Farmington

Freeze-thaw weather at Farmington peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 9 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.1 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Farmington, 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 Mar 18; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 13 and Mar 21. Earliest Feb 27 (2010), latest Mar 27 (1997).
Closing signal
Median Apr 20; middle half between Apr 12 and Apr 22. Earliest Mar 29 (2010), latest Apr 30 (1997).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan8%Feb14%Mar31%Apr29%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Franklin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Farmington was 2024 with 67 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 27. 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: Mar 12 – Apr 12, 47 sap days4720252025: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 37 sap days3720242024: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 67 sap days6720232023: Mar 13 – Apr 10, 55 sap days5520222022: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 43 sap days4320212021: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120202020: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 51 sap days5120192019: Mar 20 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 54 sap days5420172017: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 37 sap days3720162016: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 62 sap days6220152015: Mar 25 – Apr 22, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 23 – Apr 21, 32 sap days3220132013: Mar 19 – Apr 23, 49 sap days4920122012: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 47 sap days4720112011: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 38 sap days3820102010: Feb 27 – Mar 29, 44 sap days4420092009: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 49 sap days4920082008: Mar 19 – Apr 21, 43 sap days4320072007: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 51 sap days5120062006: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 42 sap days4220052005: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 41 sap days4120042004: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 44 sap days4420032003: Mar 23 – Apr 19, 29 sap days2920022002: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 47 sap days4720012001: Mar 26 – Apr 29, 39 sap days3920002000: Mar 6 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4919991999: Mar 16 – Apr 17, 60 sap days6019981998: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 45 sap days4519971997: Mar 27 – Apr 30, 48 sap days4819961996: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 41 sap days4119951995: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 44 sap days4419941994: Mar 22 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 41 sap days4119911991: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 54 sap days54
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Farmington. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Franklin County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Franklin County the 2022 Census found 45 farms making syrup (-37% since 2017), with taps -39% and syrup output -36% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.19 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Franklin County ranks 98 by taps.

Franklin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20224518,2353,5360.19
20177130,0055,5100.18

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 Farmington (436ft), 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 Maine's USDA record (12 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 — Maine, 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

Franklin County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Franklin County, Maine?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 9 near Farmington and the season winds down around April 16. 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 Feb 27 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Franklin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 45 maple operations in Franklin County with 18,235 taps producing 3,536 gallons of syrup, ranking 8 of 16 Maine's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Franklin County get in a season?
On average 44.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Farmington, of which about 12.9 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (67 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (27).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Farmington (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Maine. They describe a typical year at one point in the county; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

LuckySap · free on iPhone & Android

Get a heads-up when the sap will run in Franklin County

LuckySap watches the forecast for your trees and can ping you the night before a strong sap day, then keeps every collection and boil in one season log. Free on iPhone and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play