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Test strips for buddy sap being developed

B.W. (Bev) Campbell, OMSPA | June 11, 2024

OTTAWA, Ont.???��???Buddy Sap is a mystery to many maple producers.

You can???��?�?t see it, and you often can???��?�?t smell or taste it at the sap stage.

Only after investing considerable effort and energy into boiling it down to syrup does the off flavor become apparent. Sometimes it takes on a burnt ???��?�Tootsie Roll???��?? flavor.

Now an Ontario research team from Carlton University in Ottawa is developing a test strip to detect buddy sap.

Shahad Abdulmawjood, a Carlton University PhD candidate in chemistry, working with more than a dozen Ontario maple producers, conducted a trial this season of the first prototype buddy sap test kit.

The test uses a solution and a test strip.
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Sugarmakers encouraged to check hydrometers this season

Peter Gregg | February 21, 2024

MORRISVILLE, Vt.—Check your hydrometers!

Sugarmakers are encouraged to check hydrometers or make sure new hydrometers have been certified by the Vermont Department of Agriculture.

A recent survey by the University of Vermont Extension Service found that many syrups bought online were out of density compliance.

Extension agents bought online a total of 166 samples in 2021 and 182 samples in 2023.

Nearly 1 in 4 containers (22%) failed to meet the minimum density standard (66.9 ⁰Brix) for pure maple syrup, UVM reported.

Many state maple associations or departments of agriculture offer hydrometer testing.

At a clinic in Connecticut last month, 5 hydrometers failedout of approximately 25 tested.
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Strategic reserve nearing empty in Quebec

Peter Gregg | November 14, 2023

LONGUEUIL, Que.—The Global Strategic Reserve of maple syrup in Quebec is down to less than 15 million pounds, officials said.

Of that, all of the remaining syrup is organic.

The drainage of the reserve comes after one of the shortest crops in Quebec in recent history, combined with reportedly all-time high demand for syrup across the globe and in the U.S. in particular.

Quebec’s maple harvest totaled 124 million pounds this season, the smallest crop in five years, off dramatically from 211 million pounds in 2022.

Still, officials for the Quebec maple federation did not seem concerned.

“We are confident of being able to replenish it following the emissions of 7 million taps in 2021 and 2023,” said Joël Vaudeville, spokesman for the federation.

The federation increased its government-sanctioned tap quota to accommodate a massive increase in syrup demand during the pandemic. [ MORE ]

Survey reveals sap selling potential

Dana Ruppert | October 17, 2023

BRATTLEBORO, Vt.—There are opportunities in sap selling.

In a recent survery in Vermont, a majority of respondents reported they could accept additional sap in their facility without having to make changes to current systems.

As part of the Sap Business Promotion project, the University of Vermont Extension surveyed maple producers in the Northeast to explore the prevalence and possibility of sap selling and buying in the maple sector.

Surveys were completed by 128 producers across several states.

The majority of maple producers in this survey were producing their own sap and processing it into syrup, and 63% of participants were not participating in any sap buying or selling.
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Sugarmakers encouraged to stay vigilant on proper hydrometers

Peter Gregg | March 2, 2023

CONWAY, Mass.—Keep an eye on those hydrometers.

Maple experts and government officials are encouraging sugarmakers to keep a keen eye on the hydrometer, making sure that proper density syrup is being made.

“Be careful, they break,” said Howard Boyden, of Boyden Bros. Sugar House in Conway, Mass. during a boil last week. Boyden said he dropped one hydrometer too hard in the testing cup and broke the end off, allowing for syrup to fill up the bulb.

“Make sure you always have a spare on hand,” he said with a laugh. [ MORE ]

Many syrup hydrometers out of whack, officials say

Peter Gregg | January 3, 2023

RANDOLPH, Vt.—Producers and state officials are checking syrup hydrometers and finding they’re off.

At the state laboratory in Randolph, Vt., weights and measures officials for the Vermont agriculture department so far this year tossed out 6.6 percent of the 11,4126 hydrometers checked. A total of 749 hydrometers were rejected for sale.

“The failure rate has doubled since 2019,” said Marc Paquette, chief metrologist for the Vermont agriculture agency, who oversees the lab testing.
Vermont is the only state in the nation that offers official testing of hydrometers, and all of the big equipment manufacturers send huge batches of hydrometers to be tested there before they are sold back to sugarmakers.

Before the year is over, Paquette and his team in the official Hydrometer Volumetric Room at the state office campus in Randolph are expected to test and verify upwards of 15,000 hydrometers, a record.

Hydrometer checking was also a highlight at the Indiana Maple Syrup Association annual meeting in Greencastle, Ind. last month.

There, Mary Fogle Douglass of Sugar Bush Supplies brought in an official hydrometer testing kit where a weighted test hydrometer is floated in a solution of potassium iodide and compared against the sugarmaker’s hydrometer. [ MORE ]

Summer sales mixed in New England

Peter Gregg | August 1, 2022

LEBANBON, N.H.—Sugarmakers in New England are reporting mixed results on the pace of summer sales.

In light of sky high gas prices and record inflation, many sugarmakers have concerns over how shrinking discretionary income of consumers will eat into syrup sales.

Charlie Hunt, a sugarmakers from Hillsborough, N.H. said sales at his syrup stand were brisk.

“We’re ahead of last year,” Hunt said during the annual summer meeting of the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association on Saturday at Patch Orchards in Lebanon, N.H.

Alisha Powell of Stuart & John’s Sugarhouse in Westmoreland, N.H. said sales at her farm were going well this summer too.

“We’ve had a lot of wedding orders,” she said.
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New maple product could revolutionize industry

Paul Post | May 10, 2022

SAINT-LAZARE, Que.—CDL is planning a 2023 launch of a new product it says will revolutionize the industry.

CDL has spent the past three sugaring seasons developing and testing a liquid sweetener called Nectar, which has the consistent flavor, color and stable storage qualities food companies are looking for.

Nectar is a high brix (60-70 percent) concentrate that includes all nutrients originally included in raw sap coming from the tree.

It is a natural sweetener with healthy benefits that could be used in many different foods and beverages, creating new opportunities for maple market development.

"CDL's goal behind this project is to allow the overall maple industry to gain worldwide market shares into liquid sweeteners," said Maryse Bernier, company marketing director.

"We want to bring this technology on the market in the near future so it can benefit all existing and future maple producers and buyers looking for innovative maple products. We will make it available to any companies that may be interested in the product and technology," she said.
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