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Wisconsin · county maple atlas

Maple sugaring in Oconto County, Wisconsin

Oconto County had 30 maple operations and 11,013 taps in the 2022 Census. Around Oconto, sap usually runs from March 18 to April 12. Here's the long-run pattern, 36 seasons of sap weather, and the outlook this week.
Too early to tapAbout 163 days until the usual start.
Sap starts
Mar 18
typical year
Season ends
Apr 12
about 4 weeks
Sap days / season
35.4
1991–2026 average
Taps, 2022
11,013
#17 of 60 in WI

Sap-flow outlook at Oconto right now

Full Wisconsin forecast →

Forecast for Oconto, WI

Updated Oct 6, 9:36 AM EDT

Off-season for now. Sap needs freezing nights, and none are in sight. Oconto County's season usually opens around March 18, which is 163 days away.

No freeze-thaw days in the forecast

freeze thaw 32°F

  1. WedOct 7
    48° / 71°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  2. ThuOct 8
    40° / 64°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  3. FriOct 9
    36° / 65°

    0h below · 24h above

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

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  5. SunOct 11
    56° / 74°

    0h below · 24h above

    No refreeze forecast
  6. MonOct 12
    50° / 64°
    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 Oconto

Freeze-thaw weather at Oconto peaks in the weeks of Mar 2 to Apr 20, which hold about 57% of a season's sap days. March is the busiest month.
Typical season: Mar 18 – Apr 120246Week of Dec 1: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 8: 1.4 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 15: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 22: 1.1 sap days on averageWeek of Dec 29: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 5: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 12: 0.5 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 19: 0.3 sap days on averageWeek of Jan 26: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 2: 0.9 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 9: 1.2 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 16: 1.5 sap days on averageWeek of Feb 23: 1.7 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 2: 2.2 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 9: 2.5 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 16: 2.9 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 23: 3.1 sap days on averageWeek of Mar 30: 3.0 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 6: 2.8 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 13: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 20: 1.9 sap days on averageWeek of Apr 27: 0.8 sap days on averageWeek of May 4: 0.4 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 18
Average number of freeze-thaw sap days in each week of the season at Oconto, 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 15; the middle half of seasons fell between Mar 5 and Mar 21. Earliest Feb 14 (2012), latest Mar 29 (2018).
Closing signal
Median Apr 15; middle half between Apr 8 and Apr 23. Earliest Mar 11 (2012), latest Apr 29 (1996).
Sap days by month
Dec15%Jan7%Feb15%Mar33%Apr26%May3%

36 seasons of sap weather

Oconto County seasons, 1991–2026

The best sap year at Oconto was 2002 with 49 freeze-thaw days; the leanest was 2014 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: Mar 10 – Apr 11, 33 sap days3320252025: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 45 sap days4520242024: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 46 sap days4620232023: Mar 11 – Apr 9, 40 sap days4020222022: Mar 25 – Apr 28, 29 sap days2920212021: Mar 4 – Apr 4, 44 sap days4420202020: Mar 21 – Apr 23, 42 sap days4220192019: Mar 19 – Apr 20, 30 sap days3020182018: Mar 29 – Apr 29, 42 sap days4220172017: Mar 5 – Apr 8, 30 sap days3020162016: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 33 sap days3320152015: Mar 13 – Apr 15, 33 sap days3320142014: Mar 28 – Apr 23, 20 sap days2020132013: Mar 27 – Apr 24, 34 sap days3420122012: Feb 14 – Mar 11, 49 sap days4920112011: Mar 23 – Apr 24, 32 sap days3220102010: Feb 27 – Mar 30, 35 sap days3520092009: Mar 15 – Apr 16, 37 sap days3720082008: Mar 18 – Apr 16, 24 sap days2420072007: Feb 25 – Mar 21, 31 sap days3120062006: Mar 9 – Apr 10, 31 sap days3120052005: Mar 10 – Apr 14, 35 sap days3520042004: Mar 14 – Apr 15, 38 sap days3820032003: Mar 15 – Apr 13, 33 sap days3320022002: Mar 13 – Apr 7, 49 sap days4920012001: Mar 17 – Apr 19, 27 sap days2720002000: Feb 28 – Mar 20, 37 sap days3719991999: Mar 3 – Mar 27, 41 sap days4119981998: Mar 4 – Apr 6, 28 sap days2819971997: Mar 21 – Apr 25, 34 sap days3419961996: Mar 27 – Apr 29, 38 sap days3819951995: Mar 16 – Apr 20, 39 sap days3919941994: Mar 15 – Apr 11, 35 sap days3519931993: Mar 25 – Apr 27, 35 sap days3519921992: Mar 24 – Apr 28, 33 sap days3319911991: Mar 4 – Apr 3, 31 sap days31
Each bar runs from the season's opening signal to its closing signal, estimated from daily temperatures at Oconto. Dashed lines mark the typical dates. The right column counts freeze-thaw sap days from December through May.

Maple production

Oconto County in the Census of Agriculture

USDA counts maple operations every five years. In Oconto County the 2022 Census found 30 farms making syrup (+30% since 2017), with taps +25% and syrup output +41% over the same five years. That works out to about 0.21 gallons of syrup per tap in 2022 (0.18 in 2017). Among the 385 counties in this atlas, Oconto County ranks 128 by taps.

Oconto County maple production, 2017 and 2022 (USDA Census of Agriculture)
Census yearFarmsTapsGallons of syrupGal / tap
20223011,0132,3030.21
2017238,8421,6310.18

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 Oconto (597ft), 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

Oconto County sugaring questions

When should I tap maple trees in Oconto County, Wisconsin?
In a typical year the sap starts running around March 18 near Oconto and the season winds down around April 12. 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 14 and as late as Mar 29.
How much maple syrup does Oconto County produce?
The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 30 maple operations in Oconto County with 11,013 taps producing 2,303 gallons of syrup, ranking 17 of 60 Wisconsin's counties with published tap counts.
How many sap days does Oconto County get in a season?
On average 35.4 freeze-thaw sap days from December through May at Oconto, of which about 12.6 are textbook days with a night in the 20s and a day in the 40s. The best season since 1991 was 2002 (49 sap days); the leanest was 2014 (20).
Where do these dates come from?
From 36 seasons of daily high and low temperatures at Oconto (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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