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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Ingham County, Michigan

Ingham County had 27 maple operations and 6,355 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Lansing, sap usually runs from February 24 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 141 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 24
typical year
Season ends
Mar 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
36.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,355
#31 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Lansing right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Lansing, MI

Updated Oct 6, 10:11 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Ingham County's season usually opens around February 24, which is 141 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    43° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    47° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    53° / 72°
    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 Lansing

Freeze-thaw weather at Lansing peaks in the weeks of Feb 16 to Apr 6, which hold about 53% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 24 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.6 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: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 24
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Lansing, 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 28; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 21 and Mar 6. Earliest Jan 31 (2017), latest Mar 12 (2008).
Closing signal
Median Mar 31; middle half between Mar 24 and Apr 4. Earliest Mar 3 (2024), latest Apr 13 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec19%Jan12%Feb18%Mar34%Apr16%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Ingham County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Lansing was 2002 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 23. 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 12 – Mar 19, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 20 – Mar 27, 35 sap days3520242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 33 sap days3320232023: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 45 sap days4520222022: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 39 sap days3920212021: Feb 23 – Mar 21, 32 sap days3220202020: Feb 25 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4220192019: Mar 4 – Apr 2, 32 sap days3220182018: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 51 sap days5120172017: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 16 – Mar 22, 47 sap days4720152015: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 12 – Apr 4, 36 sap days3620122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520112011: Mar 7 – Apr 3, 27 sap days2720102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 23 sap days2320092009: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 12 – Apr 4, 29 sap days2920072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 27 sap days2720062006: Feb 24 – Mar 29, 30 sap days3020052005: Mar 3 – Mar 29, 31 sap days3120042004: Feb 24 – Mar 24, 42 sap days4220032003: Mar 8 – Apr 1, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 4 – Apr 7, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 28 – Mar 7, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 49 sap days4919981998: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3619971997: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 40 sap days4019961996: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4519951995: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 37 sap days3719941994: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 43 sap days4319931993: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 28 sap days2819921992: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 20 – Mar 20, 37 sap days37
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Lansing. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Ingham County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Ingham County the 2022 Census found 27 farms making syrup (+125% since 2017), with taps +86% and syrup output +96% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Ingham County ranks 172 by taps.

Ingham County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022276,3551,0080.16
2017123,4115150.15

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 Lansing (863ft), 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 Michigan'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 — Michigan, 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

Ingham County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Ingham County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 24 near Lansing and the season winds down around March 28. 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 31 and as late as Mar 12.
How much maple syrup does Ingham County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 27 maple operations in Ingham County with 6,355 taps producing 1,008 gallons of syrup, ranking 31 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Ingham County get in a season?
On average 36.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Lansing, 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 2002 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (23).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Lansing (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Michigan. 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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