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Season Update #2: Scramble to catch first big run of the season

Peter Gregg | February 10, 2022

DANBY, Vt.—Sugarmakers were racing to capture the first big sap run of the season.

A sap run late this week got many sugarmakers scrambling to drill taps and check leaks.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Ryan White of Danby, Vt.

White said sap that came in Wednesday had “nice flow” but he was bringing his sap to a neighbor because he wasn’t ready to boil yet.

“We still have 5,000 to put in.”

It was a race against the clock this week. [ MORE ]

Season Update #1: Early tappers making syrup already

Peter Gregg | January 14, 2022

RANDOLPH, Vt.—The early tappers are at it again, getting a jumpstart on the 2022 season.

“We have made a little over 100 gallons so far off 1700 taps we put in the second week of December,” said Cody Armstrong of Randolph, Vt. who has earned a reputation for routinely getting out early with the drill.

Armstrong said his first boil was on Jan. 3, after collecting upwards of 10,000 gallons of sap during the thaws between Christmas and New Year’s.

Higher up in Vermont, Gary Corey of Corey’s Maple Orchard in Fairfield, Vt. also got out early.

With 105,000 taps to put in at the 3,000 acre farm, getting out early is necessary to keep up with the season.

Corey said he was boiling on Dec. 17. [ MORE ]

Quebec crop short but not a wipeout

Peter Gregg | June 10, 2021

LONGUEUIL, Que.—It’s official. A short crop in Quebec and the provincial governing body regulating maple may allot more taps to cover the shortfall.

The Québec Maple Syrup Producers (QMSP) federation reported its 6,314 sugarmaker members made 133 million pounds of syrup. Producers in the province put out 48.3 million taps.

The warm temperatures experienced across Québec in April brought about an unusual occurrence: all maple syrup producing regions saw their harvest seasons begin – and end prematurely – at the same time.

Meanwhile, the Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve holds enough stock to meet the industry’s short-and medium-term needs for “conventional” product, the federation said.

In April, federation officials said the reserve held 106 million pounds in barrels, some of which are from crops as far back as 10 years ago. [ MORE ]

It's official. U.S. maple crop down somewhat for 2021, but not as bad as predicted

Peter Gregg | June 10, 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C.—It’s official. A lousy maple crop in the U.S. but maybe not as bad as first thought.

Sugarmakers in the U.S. made 3.42 million gallons of maple syrup this season, with Vermont leading the way, followed by New York and Maine, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, a branch of the USDA.

Last year’s crop was 4.11 million gallons nationwide.

While some areas fared much worse than others, the maple crop overall was 83 percent of last year’s production, not quite as bad as some forecasts of 75 or 65 percent of last year’s big crop.

[ MORE ]

Season Update #9: Quebec crop coming in very short but still lots of syrup in reserve

Peter Gregg | April 16, 2021

COWANSVILLE, Que.—Quebec’s crop is significantly down from last year but there’s still plenty of syrup in warehouses.

“We’re going to be 30 million pounds less than last year, is my educated guess,” said David Hall, a 21,000-tap producer in Cowansville, Que. and a director for the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.

Even though the far eastern sugarbushes in the province were still producing late this week, most in Quebec had shut down due to high temperatures and a notoriously low sugar content in the sap, plaguing producers all season.

“Everybody got lots of sap but there just no sugar in it,” Hall said.

Hall squelched a rumor that the federation was scrambling an emergency meeting this week to discuss the short crop. In fact, he said there is still plenty of syrup in storage to satisfy the marketplace through the year.

“I don’t think there’s a whole lot of panic out there,” Hall said. “There’s lots of syrup. It’s possible the numbers could come in a little better when it’s all done.” [ MORE ]

Season Update #8: Bulk buy prices jump this week; Northern Vt. crop way down

Peter Gregg | April 9, 2021

ALSTEAD, N.H.—With possibly the worst U.S. crop since at least 2012, bulk prices are jumping up this week.

“As of today, April 9, we have increased our field-run buy prices substantially to the producers,” said Bruce Bascom of Bascom Maple Farms in Alstead, N.H. in an announcement to The Maple News.

Bascom said he will be paying $2.40 per pound for Golden Delicate, $2.30 for Amber Rich, $2.20 for Dark Robust and $2.00 for Very Dark Strong.

Producers who are certified organic will receive upwards of a 20 cent premium on top of that, Bascom said.

Other buyers are also bumping their buy prices this week.

Ben Fisk, president of Ben’s Pure Maple Products in Temple, N.H. also contacted The Maple News on Friday to announce he is looking for 1.5 million pounds of syrup. And will pay top dollar. [ MORE ]

Season Update #7: Big crowds but not much sap in Maine; Northern Vt. is lagging too

Peter Gregg | march 29, 2021

LIMERICK, Maine—Not much sap but lots of visitors in Maine.

It was a big bust of a maple season for most in Maine, where sugarmakers were already pulling their taps.

“Not a great season,” said Aaron Carroll of Alderwood Farm in Limerick, Maine. “It was down quite a bit.”

Carroll said he made just 50 gallons off his 750 taps and pulled his taps on Sunday.

‘It was in the 60s all week here so we’re pretty much done,” he told The Maple News.

But what Carroll and other Maine sugarmakers lacked in production they made up for in tourists, with last weekend’s Maine Maple Sunday drawing massive crowds, with visitors filling long lines just to watch sugarmakers boil.

“We’ve sold out of everything,” said Nick Storer of Limerick, who with wife, Abbie and father Mike was busy Sunday entertaining a long line of tourists waiting to buy syrup and watch the Storers boil water since they were out of sap. [ MORE ]

Season Update #6: Could be a disaster in the making for some in Northeast

Peter Gregg | March 22, 2021

JOHNSTOWN, N.Y.—Could be a disaster in the making.

Despite a big sap run over the weekend and into Monday, most sugarmakers in the heart of the central Maple Belt are way behind and fretting there may not be enough time to catch up.

“It’s been a late late season,” said sugarmaker Stephen Savage of Peaceful Valley Maple Farms in Johnstown, N.Y.

As of Saturday, Savage had only made about 1,400 gallons off his 25,000 taps, a fraction of where he should be and an even smaller fraction of where he was a year ago at this time.

“By this time last year we were at 4970,” he said during a tour for The Maple News. [ MORE ]