WOODSTOCK, Vt.—There’s a maple gold rush this fall.

“Our mail order has been through the roof,” said Ralph Luce of Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock, Vt.  “We would typically see maybe 40 orders per month, we’re now getting 150 or more.”

Luce and the entire Luce family were scrambling over Columbus Day weekend tending to the crush of tourists to the 10,000-tap mountaintop farm, flocking to buy syrup and cheese and see the spectacular foilage.

“We’ll have thousands here this weekend,” Luce said, during a tour for The Maple News.

He said crowds were coming from more regional locations like New York and Boston, theorizing that tourists were opting for local fall vacations due to the pandemic.

Crowds were good about wearing masks, Luce said.  

“We’re trying to keep people outside and spread out,” he said.

Luce said since the spring syrup sales have been stronger than ever.

In New York, many farms are participating in a two-week “Fall in Love with Maple” open house tour to help make up for the lost maple weekends last spring.

At MCR Maple in North Creek, N.Y., Kevin and Heidi Feldt were entertaining brisk crowds, offering hayrides and other agri-tourism attractions.

“Our sales have been 100 percent better than expected,” Kevin Feldt told The Maple News during a tour on Saturday.  “We sold syrup last weekend like crazy.”

Feldt’s shelves in his syrup store inside the sugarhouse were almost bare, cleaning out what was left of his 2020 crop.

On Monday, sugarmaker Tom Gaiotti of Danby, Vt. was selling syrup on the side of the road near Manchester, Vt. hitting up the leaf peepers.

“It’s been extremely good,” Gaiotti said of his weekend sales.  “I’ve been surprised.”

In the Midwest, COVID-19 has been like striking oil for some maple syrup makers leaning more on outside suppliers to keep up with spikes in demand.

Kevin Hart of Brownsville, Ind. said he ran out of the 1,000 gallons of syrup he typically keeps on hand each year by the end of June. 

Usually, he has enough of his own product to last until early August before drawing from outside suppliers.

“It’s one of the few things that come out of the ground that’s worth more than crude oil,” said Hart.

Hart said his 50 percent or more spike in demand this year has a lot to do with people afraid of exposure to coronavirus in the major supermarkets turning to less crowded farmers markets and small hometown groceries offering his syrup.

His larger customers include a man switching from processed sugar to maple syrup in his caramel corn and a woman selling her oatmeal cookies sweetened with maple syrup at major venues like Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

More people wanting to stay safe at home also turned to the internet and purchased maple syrup through his Facebook page.

Hart said his outside suppliers are from central Indiana but since they’re starting to run dry he’s looking at northern Indiana and other places like New York and Wisconsin to prop up his supply.

“I’ve been scrounging all over Indiana trying to find Indiana syrup,” he said.

Kirk Hedding, president of the Michigan Maple Syrup Association who produces about 500 gallons of syrup from his 60 acre sugar bush near Ann Arbor, also reported “a big jump in sales.”

He works some farmers markets and special events but most of his syrup is sold at small local retail outlets and online.

Dave Hamilton, president of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association, said he’s also witnessed an uptick in his sales this year.

Most of his business is done at the doorstep of his home outside New Castle, Ind. from longtime customers and orders placed on online then shipped to places as far away as Spokane, Washington.

He’s also getting more business from producers replenishing their supplies strained by increased demand.

Hamilton produced about 600 gallons this year from his 40 acre woods.

“I think most people are doing ok,” he said.