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Michigan · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Montcalm County, Michigan

Montcalm County had 17 maple operations and 4,338 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Stanton, sap usually runs from February 27 to April 3. 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
Apr 3
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
41.5
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
4,338
#35 of 66 in MI

Sap-flow outlook at Stanton right now

Full Michigan forecast →

Forecast for Stanton, MI

Updated Oct 6, 11:03 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Montcalm 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° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    47° / 63°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    44° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    53° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 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 Stanton

Freeze-thaw weather at Stanton peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 47% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 27 – Apr 30246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.7 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: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 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 Stanton, 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 28 and Mar 10. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 18 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 6; middle half between Mar 30 and Apr 13. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec16%Jan9%Feb17%Mar35%Apr22%May2%

36 seasons of sap weather

Montcalm County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Stanton was 2018 with 58 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 26. 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 24 – Mar 29, 34 sap days3420252025: Mar 1 – Apr 4, 36 sap days3620242024: Feb 8 – Mar 13, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 6 – Apr 8, 50 sap days5020222022: Mar 15 – Apr 17, 39 sap days3920212021: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 37 sap days3720202020: Feb 28 – Mar 27, 48 sap days4820192019: Mar 8 – Apr 11, 36 sap days3620182018: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 58 sap days5820172017: Feb 17 – Mar 24, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 45 sap days4520152015: Mar 10 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220142014: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 47 sap days4720122012: Feb 12 – Mar 12, 52 sap days5220112011: Mar 10 – Apr 13, 26 sap days2620102010: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 38 sap days3820092009: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 12 – Apr 16, 35 sap days3520072007: Feb 21 – Mar 22, 30 sap days3020062006: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 42 sap days4220052005: Mar 6 – Apr 9, 34 sap days3420042004: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 51 sap days5120032003: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 34 sap days3420022002: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 57 sap days5720012001: Mar 8 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220002000: Feb 28 – Mar 15, 41 sap days4119991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 54 sap days5419981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 42 sap days4219971997: Mar 2 – Apr 2, 42 sap days4219961996: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 50 sap days5019951995: Mar 2 – Apr 6, 46 sap days4619941994: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 49 sap days4919931993: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 36 sap days3619921992: Mar 16 – Apr 16, 55 sap days5519911991: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Stanton. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Montcalm County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Montcalm County the 2022 Census found 17 farms making syrup (-19% since 2017), with taps -8% and syrup output -54% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.12 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.25 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Montcalm County ranks 202 by taps.

Montcalm County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022174,3385360.12
2017214,6961,1740.25

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 Stanton (915ft), 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

Montcalm County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Montcalm County, Michigan?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 27 near Stanton and the season winds down around April 3. 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 18.
How much maple syrup does Montcalm County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 17 maple operations in Montcalm County with 4,338 taps producing 536 gallons of syrup, ranking 35 of 66 Michigan's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Montcalm County get in a season?
On average 41.5 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Stanton, of which about 13.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2018 (58 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (26).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Stanton (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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