by Peter Gregg

NORTHFIELD, Mass.—Some sugarmakers are shutting down in southern states and others are just getting started, as one of the weirdest weather maple seasons continues its warm patterns.

“For those that waited to tap until the last week of February, their season may start and finish in the same week,” said Les Ober, OSU maple consultant in Northeast Ohio.

Ober said sugarmakers in his state who tapped in January and early February are enjoying what will likely amount to an “average” season.

Everything could end next week, with a stretch of 60s and no freezing nights in the forecast, he said.

Sugarmakers in Massachusetts were seeing a similar forecast, as many gathered Friday for the annual first tree-tapping at Severance Maple Products in Northfield, Mass., with hosts Milton and Robin Severance.

Tapping the first tree was newly appointed Mass. state agriculture commissioner Ashley E. Randle, who used a traditional bit-and-brace drill, surrounded by a large gathering of local and regional dignitaries, FFA students and maple producers.

Sugarmakers at the event said they had a close eye on the weather apps in their phones.

“I’m worried about the grade dropping next week,” said Mass Maple association president Keith Bardwell of Whatley, Mass. “We have a week coming up of 60s for highs and 40s for lows."

Bardwell said he tapped in the third week in January and had made 430 gallons already off of 1400 taps.

Many other sugarmakers in Massachusetts tapped early too.

Paul Zononi of Paul’s Sugarhouse in Williamsburg, Mass. said he tapped on Feb. 10, the earliest he’d ever drilled holes in 60 years of sugaring. He’s been battling the squirrels ever since.

“We cant keep the vacuum up,” Zononi said Friday. “We’ve been repairing like crazy and every time we make a fix, the next day the vacuum drops to 5.”

Paul Sena, who sugars in Worthington, Mass., said he was unworried about the forecast.

“It’s going to be cloudy and rainy that whole time, plus I still have frost in the ground,” Sena said. He too said he tapped earlier than ever before, on Feb. 10. He was at 25 percent of a crop so far.

Meanwhile, in the Midwest, many Indiana sugarmakers are calling it a season.

Dan and Ruth Winger in North Manchester, Ind. said they are shutting down this weekend, after making 3/4 of a crop compared to last year. Winger is the president of the Indiana Maple Producers Association.

"I would say here in Indiana it was as low as one quarter of a crop for some, while others were making three fourths of a crop. It all depended on when you tapped and if you were on tubing or buckets,' he told The Maple News on Friday. 

In Michigan, sugarmaker Sean Delaney in Rose City, Mich. todl The Maple News he held off on tapping early, only getting his 2,000 drilled this week.

"It was all golden and had good flavor," Delaney said.

Further west, in Wisconsin the season was a mixed bag so far.

"The Wisconsin season is truly unique," said WMSPA executive director Theresa Baroun in DePere, Wisc. "Many producers have tapped and are cooking one to two months early."

The unprecedented warm weather in the Upper Midwest has persisted.

"We have had all kinds of record setting temps, many ideal for the maple sap production, but we also will be experiencing warm weather the next couple days that may end the season for some," Baroun said.