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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Midland County, Michigan

Midland County had 11 maple operations and 2,017 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Midland, sap usually runs from February 27 to March 30. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 144 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 27
typical year
Season ends
Mar 30
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
36
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
2,017
#48 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Midland right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Midland, MI

Updated Oct 6, 9:49 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Midland County's season usually opens around February 27, which is 144 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    54° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    39° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    43° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 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 Midland

Freeze-thaw weather at Midland 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 27 – Mar 300246Week of Dec 1: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.7 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: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.4 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.6 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 27
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Midland, 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 3; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 25 and Mar 9. Earliest Feb 6 (2024), latest Mar 18 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 2; middle half between Mar 27 and Apr 10. Earliest Mar 7 (2000), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan10%Feb17%Mar36%Apr19%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Midland County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Midland was 2020 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 21. 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 29, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 38 sap days3820242024: Feb 6 – Mar 13, 36 sap days3620232023: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920222022: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 41 sap days4120212021: Feb 25 – Mar 30, 39 sap days3920202020: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 6 – Apr 5, 33 sap days3320182018: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 49 sap days4920172017: Feb 19 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 34 sap days3420142014: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720132013: Mar 14 – Apr 14, 44 sap days4420122012: Feb 10 – Mar 12, 46 sap days4620112011: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 21 sap days2120102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 36 sap days3620092009: Feb 28 – Mar 24, 30 sap days3020082008: Mar 12 – Apr 4, 31 sap days3120072007: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 30 sap days3020062006: Feb 26 – Mar 29, 35 sap days3520052005: Mar 4 – Mar 29, 22 sap days2220042004: Feb 28 – Mar 25, 46 sap days4620032003: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 28 sap days2820022002: Mar 8 – Apr 10, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 7 – Apr 4, 21 sap days2120002000: Mar 4 – Mar 7, 32 sap days3219991999: Feb 26 – Mar 28, 41 sap days4119981998: Feb 22 – Mar 25, 34 sap days3419971997: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 32 sap days3219961996: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 40 sap days4019951995: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 31 sap days3119941994: Mar 8 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3619931993: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3019921992: Mar 14 – Apr 16, 40 sap days4019911991: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 35 sap days35
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Midland. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Midland County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Midland County the 2022 Census found 11 farms making syrup (+83% since 2017), with taps +21% and syrup output +5% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.16 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Midland County ranks 250 by taps.

Midland County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022112,0173150.16
201761,6653000.18

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 Midland (607ft), 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

Midland County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Midland County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 27 near Midland and the season winds down around March 30. 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 6 and as late as Mar 18.
How much maple syrup does Midland County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 11 maple operations in Midland County with 2,017 taps producing 315 gallons of syrup, ranking 48 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Midland County get in a season?
On average 36 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Midland, of which about 13.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (21).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Midland (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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