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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Monroe County, Wisconsin

Monroe County had 19 maple operations and 5,234 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Sparta, sap usually runs from March 10 to April 6. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 155 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 10
typical year
Season ends
Apr 6
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
42.8
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
5,234
#26 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Sparta right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Sparta, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:06 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Monroe County's season usually opens around March 10, which is 155 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    50° / 72°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    44° / 67°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    41° / 69°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  4. SatOct 10
    52° / 76°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    61° / 77°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    56° / 67°
    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 Sparta

Freeze-thaw weather at Sparta peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 6, which hold about 46% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 10 – Apr 60246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.8 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.7 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 1.3 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 2.0 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.6 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 3.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.8 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.4 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 3.2 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 2.1 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 1.0 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.6 sap days on averageWeek of May 11: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of May 18: 0.1 sap days on averageWeek of May 25: 0.0 sap days on averageDecJanFebMarAprMaytaps in ~Mar 10
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Sparta, 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 7; the middle half of seasons fell between Feb 28 and Mar 13. Earliest Feb 12 (2012), latest Mar 28 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 9; middle half between Mar 31 and Apr 15. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (2018).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan9%Feb15%Mar34%Apr24%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Monroe County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Sparta was 2024 with 64 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2008 with 30. 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 19 – Mar 24, 46 sap days4620252025: Feb 21 – Mar 26, 50 sap days5020242024: Feb 20 – Mar 26, 64 sap days6420232023: Mar 9 – Apr 8, 50 sap days5020222022: Mar 19 – Apr 19, 49 sap days4920212021: Feb 28 – Apr 3, 52 sap days5220202020: Mar 9 – Apr 12, 55 sap days5520192019: Mar 15 – Apr 19, 38 sap days3820182018: Mar 28 – Apr 29, 61 sap days6120172017: Feb 28 – Apr 2, 36 sap days3620162016: Feb 24 – Mar 31, 39 sap days3920152015: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 35 sap days3520142014: Mar 20 – Apr 23, 36 sap days3620132013: Mar 26 – Apr 25, 39 sap days3920122012: Feb 12 – Mar 11, 46 sap days4620112011: Mar 11 – Apr 7, 32 sap days3220102010: Mar 2 – Mar 30, 32 sap days3220092009: Mar 11 – Apr 15, 42 sap days4220082008: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 30 sap days3020072007: Feb 23 – Mar 23, 40 sap days4020062006: Mar 7 – Apr 10, 40 sap days4020052005: Mar 3 – Apr 3, 40 sap days4020042004: Mar 3 – Apr 7, 46 sap days4620032003: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 36 sap days3620022002: Mar 10 – Apr 7, 58 sap days5820012001: Mar 14 – Apr 18, 31 sap days3120002000: Feb 16 – Mar 18, 45 sap days4519991999: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 43 sap days4319981998: Feb 23 – Mar 25, 33 sap days3319971997: Mar 9 – Apr 13, 41 sap days4119961996: Mar 18 – Apr 22, 48 sap days4819951995: Mar 7 – Apr 11, 40 sap days4019941994: Mar 12 – Apr 14, 45 sap days4519931993: Mar 20 – Apr 22, 34 sap days3419921992: Mar 12 – Apr 15, 46 sap days4619911991: Mar 2 – Apr 1, 44 sap days44
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Sparta. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Monroe County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Monroe County the 2022 Census found 19 farms making syrup (-24% since 2017), with taps -61% and syrup output -61% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.20 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.20 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Monroe County ranks 187 by taps.

Monroe County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
2022195,2341,0400.20
20172513,3332,6990.20

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 Sparta (879ft), 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 Wisconsin's USDA record (12 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 — Wisconsin, 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

Monroe County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Monroe County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 10 near Sparta and the season winds down around April 6. 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 12 and as late as Mar 28.
How much maple syrup does Monroe County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 19 maple operations in Monroe County with 5,234 taps producing 1,040 gallons of syrup, ranking 26 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Monroe County get in a season?
On average 42.8 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Sparta, of which about 9.8 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2024 (64 sap days); the leanest was 2008 (30).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Sparta (PRISM 4-km grid), scored with the same freeze-thaw rule as our live forecast, then calibrated against USDA's reported season dates for Wisconsin. 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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