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Ontario · maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Prescott and Russell, Ontario

Prescott and Russell is one of Ontario's united counties. Ontario's census divisions are its counties, districts and regional municipalities. Statistics Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 55 farms reporting maple taps and 45,243 taps here. Around Clarence-Rockland, sap usually runs from March 17 to April 16. Here's the long-run pattern, 35 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 161 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 17
weather estimate
Season ends
Apr 16
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
29.1
1991–2025 average
Taps, 2021
45,243
#13 of 29 in ON

Sap-flow outlook at Clarence-Rockland right now

Full Ontario forecast →

Forecast for Clarence-Rockland, ON

Updated Oct 7, 11:30 AM EDT

1 sap day in the next 6

freeze thaw 0 °C

  1. ThuOct 8
    8° / 13°
    No refreeze forecast
  2. FriOct 9
    5° / 11°
    No refreeze forecast
  3. SatOct 10
    -2° / 10°
    Sap likely
  4. SunOct 11
    7° / 23°
    Run tapering
  5. MonOct 12
    10° / 17°
    No refreeze forecast
  6. TueOct 13
    8° / 12°
    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 Clarence-Rockland

Freeze-thaw weather at Clarence-Rockland peaks in the weeks of Mar 9 to Apr 13, which hold about 52% 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 17 – Apr 160246Week of Dec 1: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 2.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 17
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Clarence-Rockland, 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 17; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 12 and Mar 22. Earliest Feb 21 (2012), latest Mar 26 (1992).
Closing signal
Median Apr 16; middle half between Apr 13 and Apr 22. Earliest Mar 18 (2012), latest Apr 28 (1992).
Sap days by month
Dec12%Jan7%Feb12%Mar33%Apr33%May3%

35 seasons of sap weather

Prescott and Russell seasons, 1991–2025

The best sap year at Clarence-Rockland was 2020 with 49 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2015 with 15. 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 17 – Apr 21, 24 sap days2420242024: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 39 sap days3920232023: Mar 13 – Apr 10, 35 sap days3520222022: Mar 12 – Apr 11, 33 sap days3320212021: Mar 5 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2820202020: Mar 11 – Apr 13, 49 sap days4920192019: Mar 22 – Apr 17, 25 sap days2520182018: Mar 26 – Apr 23, 35 sap days3520172017: Mar 19 – Apr 14, 20 sap days2020162016: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 35 sap days3520152015: Mar 25 – Apr 25, 15 sap days1520142014: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 21 sap days2120132013: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 30 sap days3020122012: Feb 21 – Mar 18, 32 sap days3220112011: Mar 19 – Apr 22, 24 sap days2420102010: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 27 sap days2720092009: Mar 14 – Apr 17, 32 sap days3220082008: Mar 26 – Apr 16, 18 sap days1820072007: Mar 17 – Apr 11, 29 sap days2920062006: Mar 11 – Apr 14, 28 sap days2820052005: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 32 sap days3220042004: Mar 18 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720032003: Mar 22 – Apr 25, 21 sap days2120022002: Mar 13 – Apr 11, 35 sap days3520012001: Mar 20 – Apr 20, 32 sap days3220002000: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 32 sap days3219991999: Mar 15 – Apr 15, 35 sap days3519981998: Mar 8 – Apr 12, 23 sap days2319971997: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 24 sap days2419961996: Mar 21 – Apr 19, 30 sap days3019951995: Mar 15 – Apr 18, 34 sap days3419941994: Mar 23 – Apr 23, 33 sap days3319931993: Mar 23 – Apr 14, 22 sap days2219921992: Mar 26 – Apr 28, 29 sap days2919911991: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 30 sap days30
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily Daymet temperatures at Clarence-Rockland. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Prescott and Russell 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 55 in Prescott and Russell, with 45,243 taps; in 2016, 67 farms and 42,183 taps. Among Ontario's 29 census divisions with a published tap count, Prescott and Russell ranks 13th, and 76th of the 94 in this atlas.

Over the five years the farm count changed −18% and taps +7%. 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.

Prescott and Russell maple production, 2016 and 2021 (Statistics Canada, Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarms reporting tapsTaps
20215545,243E
20166742,183
  • 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 Clarence-Rockland, the division's most populous municipality in the 2021 Census; the cell sits at 48 m (157 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

Prescott and Russell sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Prescott and Russell, Ontario?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 17 near Clarence-Rockland and the season winds down around April 16. 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 21 and as late as Mar 26.
How much maple syrup does Prescott and Russell produce?
Statistics Canada doesn't publish syrup volume by census division. Its 2021 Census of Agriculture counted 55 farms reporting 45,243 maple taps in Prescott and Russell, number 13 of 29 Ontario divisions with a published count.
How many sap days does Prescott and Russell get in a season?
On average 29.1 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Clarence-Rockland, of which about 10.1 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 (49 sap days); the leanest was 2015 (15).
Where do these dates come from?
From 35 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Clarence-Rockland (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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