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Maple sugaring in Richland County, Ohio

Richland County had 32 maple operations and 6,483 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Mansfield, sap usually runs from February 20 to March 26. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 137 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Feb 20
typical year
Season ends
Mar 26
about 5 weeks
Sap days / season
38.1
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
6,483
#13 of 63 in OH

Sap-flow outlook at Mansfield right now

Full Ohio forecast →

Forecast for Mansfield, OH

Updated Oct 6, 3:46 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Richland County's season usually opens around February 20, which is 137 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    47° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    51° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    44° / 66°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    46° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    54° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    54° / 74°
    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 Mansfield

Freeze-thaw weather at Mansfield peaks in the weeks of Jan 26 to Apr 6, which hold about 62% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Feb 20 – Mar 260246Week of Dec 1: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.2 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 20
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Mansfield, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 4 and Feb 24. Earliest Jan 16 (2017), latest Mar 6 (2010).
Closing signal
Median Mar 16; middle half between Mar 8 and Mar 28. Earliest Feb 18 (2017), latest Apr 6 (2013).
Sap days by month
Dec22%Jan15%Feb22%Mar29%Apr12%May0%

36 seasons of sap weather

Richland County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Mansfield was 1999 with 50 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 10 – Mar 3, 36 sap days3620252025: Feb 12 – Mar 18, 42 sap days4220242024: Feb 3 – Mar 3, 40 sap days4020232023: Jan 25 – Feb 19, 40 sap days4020222022: Feb 12 – Mar 14, 48 sap days4820212021: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 34 sap days3420202020: Feb 3 – Mar 9, 44 sap days4420192019: Feb 21 – Mar 28, 38 sap days3820182018: Jan 26 – Feb 18, 50 sap days5020172017: Jan 16 – Feb 18, 30 sap days3020162016: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 3 – Apr 5, 29 sap days2920142014: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 29 sap days2920132013: Mar 3 – Apr 6, 43 sap days4320122012: Feb 7 – Mar 12, 47 sap days4720112011: Feb 16 – Mar 15, 21 sap days2120102010: Mar 6 – Mar 27, 20 sap days2020092009: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 38 sap days3820082008: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3420072007: Feb 17 – Mar 21, 35 sap days3520062006: Feb 4 – Mar 8, 34 sap days3420052005: Feb 23 – Mar 27, 32 sap days3220042004: Feb 21 – Mar 25, 37 sap days3720032003: Feb 20 – Mar 15, 23 sap days2320022002: Feb 1 – Mar 6, 48 sap days4820012001: Mar 2 – Apr 4, 40 sap days4020002000: Jan 31 – Mar 6, 39 sap days3919991999: Feb 24 – Mar 28, 50 sap days5019981998: Jan 23 – Feb 24, 42 sap days4219971997: Feb 13 – Mar 20, 49 sap days4919961996: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 43 sap days4319951995: Feb 15 – Mar 11, 38 sap days3819941994: Feb 26 – Mar 31, 34 sap days3419931993: Mar 4 – Apr 5, 40 sap days4019921992: Feb 1 – Mar 4, 44 sap days4419911991: Feb 15 – Mar 16, 39 sap days39
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Mansfield. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Richland County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Richland County the 2022 Census found 32 farms making syrup (+23% since 2017), with taps -38% and syrup output -30% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.22 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.19 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Richland County ranks 168 by taps.

Richland County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022326,4831,4060.22
20172610,5132,0100.19

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 Mansfield (1,214ft), 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

Richland County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Richland County, Ohio?
In a typical year the sap starts running around February 20 near Mansfield and the season winds down around March 26. 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 16 and as late as Mar 6.
How much maple syrup does Richland County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 32 maple operations in Richland County with 6,483 taps producing 1,406 gallons of syrup, ranking 13 of 63 Ohio's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Richland County get in a season?
On average 38.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Mansfield, of which about 14.1 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 1999 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2010 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Mansfield (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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