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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Oxford, Ontario

Oxford is a county in Ontario. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 69 farms reporting maple taps and 41,505 taps here. Around Woodstock, sap usually runs from March 9 to April 9. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 153 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 9
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 9
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
30.7
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
41,505
#14 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Woodstock right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Woodstock, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:00 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Oxford's season usually opens around March 9, which is 153 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    8° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    4° / 19°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    3° / 23°
    No refreeze forecast
  4. SunOct 11
    16° / 22°
    No refreeze forecast
  5. MonOct 12
    13° / 18°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    13° / 16°
    No refreeze forecast

Data: Environment and Climate Change Canada. Verdicts use freeze-thaw thresholds from maple field research; your woods may run a little differently.

When the sap runs

The sugaring calendar at Woodstock

Freeze-thaw weather at Woodstock peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 44% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month. Typical dates are a weather estimate (no official season record for this province): the median of this division's own weather signals.
Typical season: Mar 9 – Apr 90246Week of Dec 1: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 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: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.3 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.2 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.2 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 Woodstock, 1991–2025 (Daymet temperatures). A sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (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 14. Earliest Feb 8 (2024), latest Mar 24 (2006).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 13. Earliest Mar 12 (2024), latest Apr 22 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec18%Jan9%Feb16%Mar32%Apr24%May2%

35 seasons of sap weather

Oxford seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Woodstock was 2020 with 50 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2007 with 18. 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 days20252025: Mar 7 – Apr 9, 31 sap days3120242024: Feb 8 – Mar 12, 34 sap days3420232023: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 41 sap days4120222022: Mar 9 – Apr 11, 38 sap days3820212021: Feb 28 – Apr 4, 34 sap days3420202020: Feb 27 – Mar 24, 50 sap days5020192019: Mar 13 – Apr 16, 34 sap days3420182018: Mar 21 – Apr 22, 40 sap days4020172017: Feb 19 – Mar 23, 23 sap days2320162016: Feb 22 – Mar 28, 40 sap days4020152015: Mar 14 – Apr 4, 24 sap days2420142014: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 25 sap days2520132013: Mar 13 – Apr 8, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 12 – Mar 15, 44 sap days4420112011: Mar 10 – Apr 9, 19 sap days1920102010: Feb 28 – Mar 31, 22 sap days2220092009: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 14 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820072007: Mar 9 – Mar 30, 18 sap days1820062006: Mar 24 – Apr 2, 29 sap days2920052005: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 24 sap days2420042004: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 29 sap days2920032003: Mar 15 – Apr 13, 23 sap days2320022002: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 40 sap days4020012001: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 28 sap days2820002000: Feb 15 – Mar 20, 26 sap days2619991999: Mar 3 – Mar 30, 42 sap days4219981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 25 sap days2519971997: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 16 – Apr 19, 28 sap days2819951995: Feb 27 – Apr 3, 31 sap days3119941994: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 23 sap days2319931993: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 19 sap days1919921992: Mar 17 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3019911991: Mar 14 – Apr 4, 29 sap days29
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Woodstock. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Oxford in the Census of Agriculture

Statistics Canada counts the farms that report maple taps in its Census of Agriculture every five years. In 2021 it counted 69 in Oxford, with 41,505 taps; in 2016, 62 farms and 17,021 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Oxford ranks 14th, and 77th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed +11% and taps +144%. Statistics Canada cautions that 2021 and 2016 are not strictly comparable: the census-farm definition changed in 2021, and farms were assigned to their main location more strictly.

Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division, so the Canadian pages show farms and taps, not gallons or litres.

Oxford maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20216941,505E
20166217,021
  • E Statistics Canada quality grade: use with caution.

Nearby

Neighboring maple divisions

Distances are between reference towns; typical dates are each division's own estimate.

About these numbers

The season dates are estimated from 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures for the Daymet 1-km grid cell at Woodstock, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 303 m (994 ft). Each day is scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast: a sap day is an overnight low under −1 °C (30.2 °F) followed by an afternoon high over +3 °C (37.4 °F). A season's closing signal is the last sap day before accumulated warmth reaches a threshold, and the opening signal sits 35 days before that, never earlier than the first real freeze-thaw week. The rule was calibrated on 117 state-seasons of USDA-reported dates in the US and is applied here unchanged. Ontario has no official season record, so the typical dates are a weather estimate. Production figures are copied from Statistics Canada as published. Full method, the Daymet checks and the Quebec validation → Run a sugarhouse here? Put this sap forecast on your own website →

Sources · 7

  1. 1.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2021 (Table 32-10-0362-01) · Statistics Canada
  2. 2.Maple taps, Census of Agriculture, 2011 and 2016 (Table 32-10-0423-01) · Statistics Canada
  3. 3.Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1 · ORNL DAAC
  4. 4.Sap flow in sugar maple: timing and weather drivers (Frontiers in Agronomy, 2025) · de Lima Santos et al.
  5. 5.2021 Census cartographic boundary files (census divisions, population centres) · Statistics Canada
  6. 6.Population and dwelling counts, 2021 Census (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) · Statistics Canada
Show 1 more
  1. 7.GeoNames geographical database (CA) · GeoNames

Licences and attribution

  • Adapted from Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture 2021 and 2016 (Tables 32-10-0362-01 and 32-10-0423-01), 2021 Census population and dwelling counts (Tables 98-10-0002-01 and 98-10-0011-01) and 2021 Census cartographic boundary files. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
  • Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
  • Thornton, M.M., R. Shrestha, Y. Wei, P.E. Thornton, S-C. Kao, and B.E. Wilson. 2022. Daymet: Daily Surface Weather Data on a 1-km Grid for North America, Version 4 R1. ORNL DAAC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. https://doi.org/10.3334/ORNLDAAC/2129
  • Place coordinates: GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0.

FAQ

Oxford sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Oxford, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 9 near Woodstock and the season winds down around April 9. Have your taps in a day or two before the first forecast string of nights below −1 °C and days above +3 °C. In the past 35 seasons the weather signal came as early as Feb 8 and as late as Mar 24.
How much maple syrup does Oxford produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 69 farms reporting 41,505 maple taps in Oxford, number 14 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Oxford get in a season?
On average 30.7 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Woodstock, of which about 12.7 are textbook days with a night between about −7 and −2 °C and a day between 4 and 9 °C. The best season since 1991 was 2020 (50 sap days); the leanest was 2007 (18).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Woodstock (Daymet 1-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast. Ontario has no official season record, so they are a weather estimate. They describe a typical year at one point in the division; your sugarbush, slope and elevation can shift them by days.

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