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Minnesota · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Goodhue County, Minnesota

Goodhue County had 9 maple operations and 200 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Red Wing, sap usually runs from February 27 to March 31. 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 31
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
33.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
200
#27 of 41 in MN

Sap-flow outlook at Red Wing right now

Full Minnesota forecast →

Forecast for Red Wing, MN

Updated Oct 6, 6:44 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Goodhue 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
    51° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    46° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    45° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    55° / 79°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    62° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 62°
    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 Red Wing

Freeze-thaw weather at Red Wing peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 49% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 27 – Mar 310246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.1 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 Red Wing, 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 9; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 28 and Mar 16. Earliest Feb 10 (2024), latest Mar 27 (2013).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Mar 29 and Apr 15. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 25 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec17%Jan9%Feb16%Mar38%Apr18%May1%

36 seasons of sap weather

Goodhue County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Red Wing was 2024 with 51 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2010 with 20. 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 22 – Mar 29, 38 sap days3820252025: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4120242024: Feb 10 – Mar 17, 51 sap days5120232023: Mar 10 – Apr 8, 38 sap days3820222022: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 40 sap days4020212021: Feb 27 – Apr 2, 42 sap days4220202020: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 43 sap days4320192019: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 27 – Apr 21, 45 sap days4520172017: Feb 27 – Mar 28, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 21 – Mar 27, 33 sap days3320152015: Mar 6 – Apr 4, 25 sap days2520142014: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2820132013: Mar 27 – Apr 25, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 13 – Mar 11, 36 sap days3620112011: Mar 9 – Apr 6, 22 sap days2220102010: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 20 sap days2020092009: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2920082008: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 29 sap days2920072007: Feb 25 – Mar 21, 41 sap days4120062006: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 28 sap days2820052005: Mar 2 – Apr 3, 38 sap days3820042004: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 37 sap days3720032003: Mar 5 – Apr 9, 32 sap days3220022002: Mar 11 – Apr 10, 47 sap days4720012001: Mar 16 – Apr 18, 21 sap days2120002000: Feb 20 – Mar 18, 41 sap days4119991999: Mar 2 – Mar 27, 35 sap days3519981998: Mar 17 – Mar 25, 21 sap days2119971997: Mar 17 – Apr 18, 30 sap days3019961996: Mar 19 – Apr 17, 37 sap days3719951995: Mar 9 – Apr 9, 24 sap days2419941994: Mar 11 – Apr 11, 31 sap days3119931993: Mar 19 – Apr 10, 22 sap days2219921992: Mar 15 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3419911991: Feb 28 – Apr 1, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Red Wing. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Goodhue County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Goodhue County the 2022 Census found 9 farms making syrup (0% since 2017), with taps -81% and syrup output -53% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.37 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.15 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Goodhue County ranks 344 by taps.

Goodhue County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20229200740.37
201791,0271590.15

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 Red Wing (679ft), 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

Goodhue County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Goodhue County, Minnesota?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 27 near Red Wing and the season winds down around March 31. 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 10 and as late as Mar 27.
How much maple syrup does Goodhue County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 9 maple operations in Goodhue County with 200 taps producing 74 gallons of syrup, ranking 27 of 41 Minnesota's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Goodhue County get in a season?
On average 33.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Red Wing, of which about 9.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (51 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Red Wing (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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