FAIRFIELD, Vt.—Some sugarmakers are holding on this week for the last drop of sap in what is shaping up to be a big U.S. crop.

“If you got tight vacuum you can make it through this warm weather,” said 110,000-tap sugarmaker Gary Corey on Friday during a tour for The Maple News of his sugarhouse in Fairfield, Vt.

Corey, who sugars with wife Danielle, was expecting to still get sap through the early part of this week.

As of Friday, the pair were at 71,000 gallons of syrup made.

“We should hit 72,000 and maybe even 73,000,” Corey told The Maple News.

Corey said this will be a record crop, echoing many sugarmakers who had a gangbuster year.

Peter Purinton of Huntington, Vt. also said he had a big season at his 26,000-tap operation.

“It was one of our three best seasons ever,” Purinton told The Maple News on Friday.

Purinton said the flavor of the syrup this year was exceptional too.

“It was a vintage flavor year,” he said.  “A wholesome maple flavor. Smooth and full bodied.”

Even the small sugarmakers did well in Northern Vermont.

“It was my best year ever,” said George Cook of Hyde Park, Vt. who made 56.5 gallons off his 175 taps. “It was 85 percent dark.”

Many sugarmakers were converging in Franklin County, Vt. last weekend for the equipment manufacturers open houses, and swapping stories on the 2022 season.

Bill Markham, who put out just under 1,300 taps in Lenox, Mass. said it was his biggest year too.

“We made 667 gallons this season and beat our old record from last year of 420 gallons,” Markham told The Maple News.

In Ohio, Eli Weaver of Fredricksburg, Ohio said it was just near a record year for his farm.

“We made 914 gallons on the 2200 taps we boil for,” Weaver said on Friday.

Many sugarmakers in the southern regions of the Maple Belt struggled with a stretch of warm weather in mid-March.

“We had three days in the 70s and unfortunately that shortened up the season for us,” said sugarmaker Randy Sprague of Portville, N.Y. in the Southern Tier.

Official production numbers will be released in the first week of June by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Meanwhile, bulk syrup buyers are out in full force collecting up barrels for a hot marketplace.

Butternut Mountain Farm of Morristown, Vt., one of the nations biggest bulk buyers, released its buying prices on Friday.

The company announced a base price of $2.65 per pound for the top table grades with a 15 cent premium for organic and other premiums for volume, according to a blast email from the company obtained by The Maple News.