New England winters are getting warmer—it’s undeniable, especially after this winter. Yet, Vermont’s maple industry soldiers on.
Mark Isselhardt, a maple specialist and program leader at UVM Extension, says it's too early to know how this year's maple syrup yield will compare to other years, but so far it seems like producers are on track to reach average levels. But, he said, maple syrup producers across the region are reporting inconsistent conditions and yields—some comparatively more, some less.
"There's an old saying that if you've seen one sugaring season [then] you've seen one sugaring season, and I think this is a great example of that," he said.
The really large operations, with tens of thousands of taps, are limited by how many workers they can find to tap their trees. They got started early, in December, and benefited from the temperatures we had that month.
"We had many sugar makers tapping very early in response to a lot of factors, one being warm weather, a warmer winter than we expected," he said.
Producers who rely on gravity sap collection are beholden to the freeze-thaw cycle, but those who use tubing and vacuum technology will continue to collect for days, even if there hasn't been a freeze, he said.
Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association is celebrating this year's Maple Open House weekend on March 23-24, with more than 90 locations opening their doors to the public for maple tastings and other events.
Broadcast at noon Wednesday, March 13, 2024; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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