Maintaining a Healthy Sugarbush
Maple producers benefit from spending time, and maybe some money, ensuring they have a healthy and productive sugarbush.
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Showing 391 – 400 of all 727 resources in the database
The Cost of Production for Vermont Maple Syrup
The University of Vermont Maple Benchmark project is advancing the study of maple economics and supporting management decision making at the individual business level. The following article summarizes the cost of production findings from 2014 and synthesizes key trends in business management.
Ask Proctor
What causes syrup to be light or dark at different parts of the season?
Backyard Sugaring: Just Do It
A step-by step guide for small-scale, beginning sugarmaking.
What’s trending
The 2012 USDA Census of Agriculture reveals trends in growth for number of producers and number of taps in many states.
Maple Label Regulations: Is Maple Really Maple?
Chart showing the range of labelling regulations used in different states and provinces.
Investigating Decreasing Growth Rates of Sugar Maple in the Adirondacks
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.
How Will Climate Change Affect Maple Syrup?
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.
Thoughts on the Season: Bruce Bascom
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.”
Ask Proctor
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?