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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Ionia County, Michigan

Ionia County had 16 maple operations and 5,980 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Ionia, sap usually runs from February 25 to March 29. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 142 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 25
typical year
Season ends
Mar 29
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
37
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
5,980
#32 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Ionia right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Ionia, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Ionia County's season usually opens around February 25, which is 142 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    55° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    48° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    51° / 70°
    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 Ionia

Freeze-thaw weather at Ionia peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 25 – Mar 290246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.6 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: 1.6 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: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.5 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 25
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Ionia, 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 1; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 23 and Mar 8. Earliest Feb 5 (2024), latest Mar 14 (1993).
Closing signal
Median Apr 1; middle half between Mar 25 and Apr 9. Earliest Mar 7 (2000), latest Apr 18 (1993).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan10%Feb18%Mar35%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Ionia County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Ionia was 2002 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 22. 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 18 – Mar 25, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 23 – Mar 28, 37 sap days3720242024: Feb 5 – Mar 12, 33 sap days3320232023: Mar 1 – Apr 3, 50 sap days5020222022: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 23 – Mar 29, 37 sap days3720202020: Feb 27 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4120192019: Mar 5 – Apr 2, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 52 sap days5220172017: Feb 13 – Mar 18, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 42 sap days4220152015: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 28 sap days2820142014: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 11 – Mar 12, 45 sap days4520112011: Mar 8 – Apr 3, 22 sap days2220102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 32 sap days3220092009: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 38 sap days3820082008: Mar 12 – Apr 5, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 20 – Mar 21, 26 sap days2620062006: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 32 sap days3220052005: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 32 sap days3220042004: Feb 26 – Mar 25, 43 sap days4320032003: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 27 sap days2720022002: Mar 6 – Apr 10, 52 sap days5220012001: Mar 7 – Apr 5, 30 sap days3020002000: Feb 28 – Mar 7, 37 sap days3719991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 46 sap days4619981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 37 sap days3719971997: Mar 1 – Apr 2, 37 sap days3719961996: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 48 sap days4819951995: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 42 sap days4219931993: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 39 sap days3919911991: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Ionia. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Ionia County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Ionia County the 2022 Census found 16 farms making syrup (+33% since 2017), with taps +5% and syrup output +14% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Ionia County ranks 178 by taps.

Ionia County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022165,9801,2740.21
2017125,6951,1180.20

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 Ionia (797ft), 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

Ionia County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Ionia County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 25 near Ionia and the season winds down around March 29. 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 5 and as late as Mar 14.
How much maple syrup does Ionia County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 16 maple operations in Ionia County with 5,980 taps producing 1,274 gallons of syrup, ranking 32 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Ionia County get in a season?
On average 37 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Ionia, of which about 13.4 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 2011 (22).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Ionia (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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