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Massachusetts · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Franklin County, Massachusetts

Franklin County had 58 maple operations and 101,339 taps in the 2022 Census, the most of any county in Massachusetts. Around Greenfield, sap usually runs from February 26 to April 4. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 143 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 26
typical year
Season ends
Apr 4
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
55.6
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
101,339
#1 of 8 in MA

Sap-flow outlook at Greenfield right now

Full Massachusetts forecast →

Forecast for Greenfield, MA

Updated Oct 6, 9:38 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    29° / 63°

    4h below · 18h above

    Sap likely
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    Run tapering
  3. FriOct 9
    46° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    43° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 68°
    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 Greenfield

Freeze-thaw weather at Greenfield peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 26 – Apr 40246Week of Dec 1: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 4.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 4.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 26
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Greenfield, 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 27; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 21 and Mar 7. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 16 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Mar 31; middle half between Mar 26 and Apr 9. Earliest Mar 13 (2012), latest Apr 20 (2001).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan14%Feb20%Mar30%Apr15%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Franklin County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Greenfield was 2023 with 74 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2003 with 41. 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 25 – Mar 30, 51 sap days5120252025: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 8 – Mar 15, 54 sap days5420232023: Feb 22 – Mar 29, 74 sap days7420222022: Feb 20 – Mar 24, 59 sap days5920212021: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 51 sap days5120202020: Feb 12 – Mar 19, 60 sap days6020192019: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 60 sap days6020182018: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 66 sap days6620172017: Feb 23 – Mar 30, 55 sap days5520162016: Feb 11 – Mar 14, 60 sap days6020152015: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 41 sap days4120142014: Mar 10 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820132013: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 66 sap days6620122012: Feb 12 – Mar 13, 73 sap days7320112011: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 45 sap days4520102010: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 47 sap days4720092009: Mar 8 – Apr 9, 60 sap days6020082008: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 59 sap days5920072007: Feb 27 – Apr 1, 56 sap days5620062006: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 61 sap days6120052005: Mar 4 – Mar 31, 58 sap days5820042004: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220032003: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 41 sap days4120022002: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 73 sap days7320012001: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 52 sap days5220002000: Feb 18 – Mar 25, 54 sap days5419991999: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 60 sap days6019981998: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 53 sap days5319971997: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 51 sap days5119961996: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 50 sap days5019951995: Feb 16 – Mar 19, 51 sap days5119941994: Mar 10 – Apr 12, 48 sap days4819931993: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 49 sap days4919921992: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 60 sap days6019911991: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 61 sap days61
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Greenfield. 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 58 farms making syrup (-51% since 2017), with taps -33% and syrup output -16% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.26 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.21 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Franklin County ranks 28 by taps.

Franklin County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202258101,33926,8000.26
2017118150,14832,0490.21

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 Greenfield (230ft), 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 Massachusetts' USDA record (8 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 — Massachusetts, 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, Massachusetts?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 26 near Greenfield and the season winds down around April 4. 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 8 and as late as Mar 16.
How much maple syrup does Franklin County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 58 maple operations in Franklin County with 101,339 taps producing 26,800 gallons of syrup, ranking 1 of 8 Massachusetts' counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Franklin County get in a season?
On average 55.6 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Greenfield, of which about 16.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2023 (74 sap days); the leanest was 2003 (41).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Greenfield (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Massachusetts. 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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