North Loup, Nebraska, sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b — enough range to grow cool-season vegetables, hardy fruit, and warm-season crops that mature before the first hard frost.
On paper, cabbage, cranberry, lavender, and collard greens all suit these conditions — on the ground, soil, sun, and drainage make the final call.
Even in North Loup, no two yards are alike.
A low spot, a south-facing slope, or a stand of trees moves the frost date and sun across a single North Loup lot. Enter your address and we'll score 1,086 plants against your land's actual soil, sun, and frost.
We read public map data around North Loup — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
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North Loup — the short answer
North Loup, Nebraska: USDA zone 5b, about 179 days between hard freezes, across 262 acres of town.
- USDA zone
- 5b
- USDA PHZM 2023
- Last hard freeze (28°F)
- Apr 20
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- First hard freeze (28°F)
- Oct 16
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Days between freezes
- ~179
- NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, 28°F — this town
- Town area
- 262 acres
- US Census TIGER/Line 2025
Every figure names the dataset it came from. Hard-freeze dates are this town’s own 28°F normals: light frosts run a few weeks past them, and tender transplants usually wait 2–3 weeks after the last hard freeze.
Hardiness Zone Range
Zone 5b is North Loup's average, not your lot's — a low corner or a tree line moves it. Against North Loup's 179-day season, see what your own ground reads.
Soil varies lot by lot — soil types explained.
What this means for growing in North Loup
Each reading below is measured for North Loup itself — here is what it means for a garden here, and the move an experienced grower makes about it.
Season length
MeasuredNorth Loup runs about 179 days between hard freezes — a moderate growing season.
There is room for the full run of cool-season crops plus a warm-season main crop, but the calendar is tight enough that a late spring or early fall frost still decides how much finishes.
Time warm-season transplants to your last hard freeze, and a few weeks of season extension turns a near-miss harvest into a sure one.
NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
Winter hardiness
MeasuredNorth Loup sits in USDA hardiness zone 5b.
The zone sets which perennials, shrubs, and fruit trees live through an average winter here — a plant rated for a colder zone is a safe bet, one rated warmer needs winter protection or gets treated as an annual.
Match perennials and fruit to the zone before you buy, so nothing you plant is a gamble against the cold.
USDA PHZM 2023
The kind of country North Loup is in
North Loup sits in the Central Great Plains — EPA Level III, inside the wider Great Plains. That is read at North Loup's own centroid rather than borrowed from Valley County.
What Grows in North Loup
Every plant below cleared North Loup's own zone 5b and its 179-day season. Each card opens that plant's Nebraska profile. How we score.
Is it too late to plant in North Loup?
Usually not — gardeners here simply switch what goes in the ground as the season moves. Cool-season crops can go in from around Mar 23; tender transplants wait until two to three weeks after the last 28°F hard freeze, which lands near Apr 20 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals); and from midsummer, planting counts back from the first fall freeze around Oct 16 — long-season crops need about 90 days of runway, quick greens only 30. Late in the year the fall bench takes over — quick greens, radishes, and garlic that repays you next summer.
What's on the federal record near North Loup
Closest first, within ~10 miles of North Loup. Listing isn't leaking, and distance isn't exposure.
- RICHARD KRCILEK FARMBrownfields · 150 ft
- TROTTERs WHOA & GO #9Underground Storage Tanks · 500 ft
- 18N 13W36AD 1Nitrate · 1.0 mi
- 18N 12W19CA 1Nitrate · 2.0 mi
- 18N 12W19BA 1Nitrate · 2.4 mi
- 17N 13W 4ABAA1Nitrate · 2.4 mi
- 18N 13W33BC 1Nitrate · 2.8 mi
- TROTTERS WHOA & GO EXPRESS IIUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.0 mi
- 17N 13W 8DD 1Nitrate · 4.1 mi
- CJs PETROLEUMUnderground Storage Tanks · 4.1 mi
- 17N 12W 4DD 1Nitrate · 4.3 mi
- 19N 13W35CC 2Nitrate · 5.1 mi
6 more sites are on the record inside the same radius. See them on the map
Measured from North Loup's center, not your beds. Run your own address for what's upwind of you specifically.
Environmental Intelligence
The counts behind that headline — every source type on the record near North Loup.
Total Sites
38
within ~10 miles of North Loup
Risk Level
Low
Highest-severity
1 Toxics Release Inventory facility
Sources Checked
within ~10 miles of North Loup
Severity Distribution
within ~10 miles of North Loup
Highest-Severity Sites
A note from Gnorman
What an experienced grower watches for around here
In and around North Loup, two things run higher than the national average within ~10 miles of North Loup — CAFO (4 sites) and Nitrate (26 sites). That's not a problem with your land — it's information about it.
CAFO: CAFOs pose a different contamination profile than chemical sources.
Nitrate: Nitrate contamination primarily comes from agricultural fertilizer runoff and failing septic systems.
Wash all produce consumed raw thoroughly, especially leafy greens grown near CAFOs.
Test well water for nitrate if you rely on a private well for irrigation (EPA standard: 10 mg/L).
Check your specific parcel in North Loup
Get exact proximity distances to contamination sources for your specific parcel — plus soil, sun, drainage, and 1,086 plant recommendations.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Loup average
Your land is one point inside North Loup
Everything above resolves to North Loup as a whole — one PHZM band and one 28°F frost record, read across 262 acres. Your parcel is one point inside that footprint. Slope, tree cover, a low spot that pools cold air, and what is in the soil are all resolved at the address, and none of them are visible at town scale. That is the honest boundary of this page, and the reason the next step is a reading of your own ground rather than a better local average.
Your Lot vs the North Loup Average
North Loup Average
- ●USDA Zones 5b, averaged across North Loup
- ●One soil character for all of North Loup
- ●Frost dates read at North Loup's scale: Apr 20 to Oct 16
YOUR Parcel
- ✓Your exact zone, not North Loup's 5b
- ✓Your SSURGO soil type & pH
- ✓Your sun exposure, cast in 3D
See MY Growing Report
Read your specific parcel in North Loup
Pull a site-specific report for your exact address in North Loup, Nebraska — soil, sun, drainage, frost risk, and scored plant recommendations.
Three things about your lot that North Loup averages can't show:
We read public map data around North Loup — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources read at your address, not the North Loup average
How we know this about North Loup
The datasets: hardiness from the USDA ARS Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023, read at this town’s own centroid; hard-freeze dates from NOAA 1991–2020 28°F normals at North Loup’s own record; boundaries and acreage from US Census TIGER/Line 2025; the contamination records from the federal sources named in their beats above. Soil is not read at town grain anywhere on this page — there is no town-resolution survey in our data, which is why you will find no soil grid here rather than a statewide one wearing a local label. The resolution ledger below names every figure this page inherited.
Common questions about North Loup
When does frost risk typically end in North Loup?
The last hard freeze (28°F) in North Loup typically lands around Apr 20, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — earlier than the light-frost dates most charts quote. That marks the hard freeze, not the last light frost — lighter frosts keep biting past it, which is why tender transplants here wait until about May 11.
When is the first frost in North Loup?
The first hard freeze (28°F) in North Loup typically arrives around Oct 16, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals — the point tender summer crops finish. Lighter frosts run ahead of it, near Oct 2, so the watching starts about Sep 16 — about 179 days after the spring freeze cleared.
How long is the growing season in North Loup?
Measured between 28°F hard freezes, North Loup sees about 179 frost-free days — roughly Apr 20 through Oct 16, per NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals. Tender crops work a shorter one: nearer May 11 to Oct 2, about 144 days.
Is the soil safe to grow vegetables in North Loup?
The federal record around North Loup is light — 38 documented sites across the 9 federal source types we checked, mostly Nitrate entries (26), the nearest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out — and proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis of any one yard. Growing food here starts from a strong position; a soil test before new food beds settles any site-specific question.
How do I protect my plants from frost in North Loup?
From about Sep 16 the job here turns from planting to protecting — the last start even a 30-day crop can finish. As the season closes around the first 28°F hard freeze near Oct 16 (NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals), three moves buy time: row cover or an old sheet over tender plants on still, clear nights; water the soil the afternoon before a freeze, so it holds warmth overnight; and harvest tomatoes, peppers and basil before Oct 16. Hardy greens and roots shrug off light frost and sweeten after it — leave them in.
Everything above is measured at North Loup's scale — its 5b band and its 179-day season. Your yard writes its own version of North Loup's numbers: we read soil, sun, drainage and frost at your exact address. Try it for 14 days — no card required.
What this page reads at North Loup’s own scale
6 of the readings below were taken at North Loup's own scale — its own ~179-day season between 28°F freezes, the 262 acres it covers and 38 documented sites around it; 4 are borrowed from a wider read, named and linked below.
Measured here
- North Loup's own USDA hardiness band, zones 5bUSDA PHZM 2023
- North Loup's own 28°F hard-freeze dates, about Apr 20 and Oct 16 and the ~179-day span between themNOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals
- 38 documented contamination sites on the federal record near North Loup, the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out from the town centreFederal environmental registers
- North Loup's boundary and the 262 acres inside itUS Census TIGER/Line 2025
- Which of 1,086 plants clear zones 5b and a ~179-day seasonGrowable Ground crop-matching engine
- The ecoregion at North Loup's own centroid, the Central Great PlainsUS EPA Level III Ecoregions
Inherited from a wider read
- Soil character — no town-scale survey exists, so North Loup's 262 acres read through its county's SSURGO summaryfrom Valley County
- Growing-degree days and winter chill — measured county-wide only, so the county page carries themfrom Valley County
- The growing challenges every Nebraska grower plans around — written at state scale, so they stay on the state guidefrom Nebraska
- Butterfly and beetle records, and the farmland pesticide estimate — all published county-widefrom Valley County
What this page can’t tell you
- The soil pH, drainage, sun hours, and frost pockets on any one lot among North Loup's 262 acreswhy one lot differs from the next →
- Which side of North Loup you're on — a low spot frosts first and a south wall warms early, and one normal is being asked to speak for all 262 acresreading your own microclimate →
- How close that record sits to YOUR lot — the closest Brownfields record under a tenth of a mile out, measured from the town centrehow we read the record →
- Where cold air settles, which slopes face the sun, and which way the wind runs on your own ground — measured at your address, and averaged away by any North Loup-wide figureread your own land →
More in Nebraska
Wider growing context
What grows across NebraskaNorth Loup sits outside our named growing regions, so Nebraska as a whole is its closest context here.
Nearby growing guides