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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Becker County, Minnesota

Becker County had 12 maple operations and 1,757 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Detroit Lakes, sap usually runs from March 9 to April 11. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 154 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 9
typical year
Season ends
Apr 11
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
29.9
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
1,757
#12 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Detroit Lakes right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Detroit Lakes, MN

Updated Oct 6, 10:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Becker County's season usually opens around March 9, which is 154 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    45° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    40° / 62°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    53° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    52° / 61°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    42° / 51°
    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 Detroit Lakes

Freeze-thaw weather at Detroit Lakes peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 20, which hold about 60% of a season's sap days. April is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 9 – Apr 110246Week of Dec 1: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 9
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Detroit Lakes, 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 19; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 11 and Mar 26. Earliest Feb 17 (2012), latest Apr 13 (2001).
Closing signal
Median Apr 20; middle half between Apr 11 and Apr 24. Earliest Mar 12 (2012), latest May 12 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec10%Jan5%Feb13%Mar33%Apr35%May4%

36 seasons of sap weather

Becker County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Detroit Lakes was 1991 with 45 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2001 with 13. 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: Mar 18 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3920252025: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 41 sap days4120242024: Mar 11 – Apr 6, 40 sap days4020232023: Apr 1 – Apr 27, 25 sap days2520222022: Apr 2 – Apr 28, 25 sap days2520212021: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 45 sap days4520202020: Mar 25 – Apr 23, 30 sap days3020192019: Mar 24 – Apr 19, 26 sap days2620182018: Mar 30 – Apr 28, 32 sap days3220172017: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 29 sap days2920162016: Mar 13 – Apr 14, 35 sap days3520152015: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 27 sap days2720142014: Mar 28 – Apr 22, 18 sap days1820132013: Apr 8 – May 12, 19 sap days1920122012: Feb 17 – Mar 12, 23 sap days2320112011: Mar 24 – Apr 22, 29 sap days2920102010: Mar 4 – Apr 8, 23 sap days2320092009: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 18 sap days1820082008: Mar 31 – May 5, 38 sap days3820072007: Mar 18 – Apr 18, 32 sap days3220062006: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 20 sap days2020052005: Mar 7 – Apr 8, 36 sap days3620042004: Mar 17 – Apr 15, 35 sap days3520032003: Mar 14 – Apr 12, 22 sap days2220022002: Mar 24 – Apr 27, 42 sap days4220012001: Apr 13 – Apr 23, 13 sap days1320002000: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3619991999: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 31 sap days3119981998: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 23 sap days2319971997: Mar 26 – Apr 18, 22 sap days2219961996: Apr 4 – May 5, 31 sap days3119951995: Mar 24 – Apr 26, 31 sap days3119941994: Mar 18 – Apr 21, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 20 – Apr 21, 27 sap days2719921992: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 37 sap days3719911991: Mar 5 – Apr 2, 45 sap days45
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Detroit Lakes. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Becker County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Becker County the 2022 Census found 12 farms making syrup (+200% since 2017), with taps +10% and syrup output +134% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.17 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.08 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Becker County ranks 257 by taps.

Becker County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022121,7572990.17
201741,6041280.08

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 Detroit Lakes (1,371ft), 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 Minnesota's USDA record (3 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 — Minnesota, 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

Becker County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Becker County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 9 near Detroit Lakes and the season winds down around April 11. 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 17 and as late as Apr 13.
How much maple syrup does Becker County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 12 maple operations in Becker County with 1,757 taps producing 299 gallons of syrup, ranking 12 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Becker County get in a season?
On average 29.9 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Detroit Lakes, of which about 8.7 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1991 (45 sap days); the leanest was 2001 (13).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Detroit Lakes (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Minnesota. 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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