Showing 101 – 110 of 209 resources
Q1: I’m considering switching from a flat pan to a larger pan with continuous flow, and keep hearing about the gradient. What is a gradient and why is it important? Q2: After a warm spell that made the sap stop running, a hard freeze made it start again so I collected and boiled. The syrup had an off-flavor. Why?
Overall, Bruce says he is positive and optimistic about both production and demand, estimating that both could double in the U.S. in the next decade or so. “Some people think it’s a bubble,” he says, “but I think the market is still very strong.”
The Acer Climate and Socio-Ecological Research Network (ACERnet) formed recently to study climate impacts on sugar maple and maple syrup production. With funding from the Department of Interior Northeast Climate Science Center, we are focusing our research on the relationship between sap quality and climate, and how producers can and are adapting to climate variability and change.
Relatively little work has been conducted investigating trends and influences of the annual growth of sugar maple trees, utilizing the widths of tree rings to estimate growth rates for each year. Using this tree-ring approach, recent research suggests that growth rates have been decreasing in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.
Chart showing the range of labelling regulations used in different states and provinces.
The final rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) have been issued, after several years of drafts and revisions, and concern about what the new regulations would mean for maple producers. Based on a read of the rules, and a discussion with Jenny Scott, Senior Advisor at the Office of Food Safety of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, for most sugarmakers the impact will be minimal.
Over the past six years, my laboratory, and others, have been conducting research focused on identifying bioactive plant compounds (known as phytochemicals or phytonutrients) and evaluating the biological effects of maple syrup, maple water (i.e. maple sap), and maple plant parts and their derived extracts.
We found significant populations of snake worms devouring the organic matter, causing soil conditions that discouraged growth of understory native plant species. We are looking at their distribution in maple stands throughout the region relative to forest management practices, and assessing their impact on understory diversity, maple regeneration and various soil characteristics.
The purpose of the present experiment was to test the precision of a variety of digital refractometers available to maple producers. Additionally, the effect of temperature on refractometer accuracy and precision was investigated, in order to assess the reliability of the automatic temperature compensation feature now present in the majority of refractometers.
Summaries of Research Presentations from 2015 NAMSC Annual Meeting.