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Maple sugaring in Crawford County, Ohio

Crawford County had 8 maple operations and 8,131 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Bucyrus, sap usually runs from February 19 to March 28. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 136 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 19
typical year
Season ends
Mar 28
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
39.3
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
8,131
#12 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Bucyrus right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Bucyrus, OH

Updated Oct 6, 3:46 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Crawford County's season usually opens around February 19, which is 136 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    46° / 75°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    49° / 70°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    42° / 68°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    45° / 73°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 75°
    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 Bucyrus

Freeze-thaw weather at Bucyrus peaks in the weeks of Feb 2 to Mar 30, which hold about 55% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 19 – Mar 280246Week of Dec 1: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.4 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: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Feb 19
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Bucyrus, 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 Feb 14; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 4 and Feb 25. Earliest Jan 8 (2023), latest Mar 6 (2014).
Closing signal
Median Mar 18; middle half between Mar 6 and Mar 30. Earliest Feb 9 (2023), latest Apr 6 (2014).
Sap days by month
Dec21%Jan15%Feb21%Mar30%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Crawford County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Bucyrus was 2012 with 52 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2011 with 23. 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 10 – Mar 3, 32 sap days3220252025: Feb 9 – Mar 9, 43 sap days4320242024: Feb 4 – Feb 26, 37 sap days3720232023: Jan 8 – Feb 9, 41 sap days4120222022: Feb 10 – Mar 14, 46 sap days4620212021: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 40 sap days4020202020: Jan 29 – Mar 3, 39 sap days3920192019: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 38 sap days3820182018: Jan 21 – Feb 18, 52 sap days5220172017: Jan 17 – Feb 17, 33 sap days3320162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 45 sap days4520152015: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 32 sap days3220142014: Mar 6 – Apr 6, 34 sap days3420132013: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 47 sap days4720122012: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 52 sap days5220112011: Feb 25 – Apr 1, 23 sap days2320102010: Mar 1 – Mar 28, 24 sap days2420092009: Feb 14 – Mar 21, 46 sap days4620082008: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3720072007: Feb 16 – Mar 21, 36 sap days3620062006: Feb 3 – Mar 8, 40 sap days4020052005: Feb 22 – Mar 27, 30 sap days3020042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 41 sap days4120032003: Mar 1 – Mar 16, 24 sap days2420022002: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 47 sap days4720012001: Mar 1 – Apr 5, 39 sap days3920002000: Jan 30 – Mar 6, 38 sap days3819991999: Feb 24 – Mar 30, 48 sap days4819981998: Jan 24 – Feb 27, 47 sap days4719971997: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 46 sap days4619961996: Feb 25 – Mar 31, 42 sap days4219951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 38 sap days3819941994: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 37 sap days3719931993: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 36 sap days3619921992: Feb 1 – Mar 4, 45 sap days4519911991: Feb 15 – Mar 16, 40 sap days40
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Bucyrus. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Crawford County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Crawford County the 2022 Census found 8 farms making syrup (-11% since 2017), with taps +20% and syrup output +5% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.12 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.14 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Crawford County ranks 152 by taps.

Crawford County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
202288,1311,0070.12
201796,7789590.14

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 Bucyrus (1,004ft), 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 Ohio's USDA record (8 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 — Ohio, 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

Crawford County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Crawford County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 19 near Bucyrus and the season winds down around March 28. 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 Jan 8 and as late as Mar 6.
How much maple syrup does Crawford County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 8 maple operations in Crawford County with 8,131 taps producing 1,007 gallons of syrup, ranking 12 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Crawford County get in a season?
On average 39.3 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Bucyrus, of which about 14.2 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2012 (52 sap days); the leanest was 2011 (23).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Bucyrus (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Ohio. 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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