through Feb . 8 .

came this week .

Cornell University

Inside going already .”

“ I still cant believe we ’ re doing it ,” temperatures . said Bob Bushee , who sugars with He started tapping on Jan . 23 after his son , Kyle in Manchester , Vt . he looked at the forecast . during his first boil on Feb . 1 . “ I ’ m “ We figured it would be a short getting calls every day from other year because we ’ re not not getting a sugarmakers asking if we ’ re really winter ,” Bushee said . “ So we decid-

Bushee started checking lines and For much of January and Februchanging spouts right after Christmas , enjoying bare woods and warm

ed to go for it .”

NYS Maple Specialist

it ’ s huge .”

drills on Jan . 3 .

18.6

18.5

18.5

18.4

18.4

INSIDE

When the weather showed signs of sap potential on Jan . 9 , Walling turned the vac-

By that time they already had 2,300 taps

uum on .

Page 8

1 % increase . 2 more gallons of sap per tap

NEIL WALLING fires up the rig for his first boil for the first boil on Jan . 11 . Sugarmakers are more and more catching early runs in the season . season runs .

Page 34

Cornell University

Page C7

PAGE C3

PAGE C2

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Indiana Vacuum dba Harris Sugar Bush — Arthur & Rebecca Harris 999 E CO RD 325 N Greencastle , IN 46135 Phone / fax : 765-653-5108 Cell : 765-301-0389 / 765-301-0016

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SCENES FROM THE

SEASON

Vol . 15 , Issue 3 March 2016

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT : Brad , Jeff and father Larry Moore of Loudon , N . H . move around full barrels in the sugarhouse on Feb . 12 . The men made 600 gallons during the frantic early season run of Feb . 1

TOP RIGHT : Bob Wood of Pawlet , Vt . checks a tank on Feb . 2 during a big sap run in the East . Wood said this is the earliest he has ever been tapped , scrambling to get his 3,000 holes drilled in time for the warm spell that

RIGHT : Even way up in Sidney , Maine syrup was made in the early season runs . Nathan and Kevin Bacon of Bacon Maple Farm made about 10 gallons when the sap ran in a swampy sugarbush on Feb . 1 . “ It was just enough to be aggravating ,” Kevin Bacon said .

Expect significantly lower bulk syrup prices in 2016

By MICHAEL FARRELL

Bulk syrup prices are expected to be significantly lower when you go to sell your crop this spring , and it has absolutely nothing to do with how much syrup is made . With most agricultural products , prices are usually correlated with the size of the harvest . If there is a shortage , prices will rise and if there is a surplus , then prices will likely fall . However , unless there is an extreme shortfall due to weather conditions , prices will almost certainly be lower than last year , even without a bumper crop . As a sugarmaker , it is important to understand how bulk syrup

Please see BULK on PG . 30 ➤

Vol . 15 , Issue 5 May 2016

CUTLINE cgcgcg gcg cg gc g c cg gc g c cg gc g c cg gc g c cg gc g c cg gc g cgc

Survey of sugarmakers about climate change , pages 30-31

HOT START

Sugarmakers catch the early season with big runs in early February

M

OPEN HOUSE WEEKEND

By PETER GREGG pgregg @ themaplenews . com

ANCHESTER , Vt . — The maple season in the East got off to a rapid early start . Many sugarmakers were reporting making syrup during the extraordinary warm spell in late January and early February , continuing a season that started for some as early as December .

WISCONSIN ’ S SEASON

IT ’ S NOT JUST BIG , IT ’ S

Please see EARLY on PG . 28 ➤

2016 SEASON

SUGARMAKER DAVE FULLER of Lancaster , N . H . fills a drum on April 12 . Fuller was enjoying a big season , with more than a half gallon of syrup per tap made off his 10,250 taps . “ Everybody around here did really well ,” Fuller said .

CARL LAPIERRE , who taps 143,000 in the Beauce region of Quebec , said that the season ’ s crop in the province could be a record-breaker . “ Everybody is going to be very happy ,” he said on April 15 .

ERIC KLATT OF KNAPP , WISC . CHECKS his pipeline on Feb . 6 as Badgerland sugarmakers get ready for the season . The Midwest did not enjoy early season runs like sugarmakers did in the East . For more photos of Knapp , Wisc . sugarmakers , go to pages 18-19 .

HUGE

Quebec crop could be a whopper

Province ’ s biggest producer predicts record breaker

TAPPING

ST-LUDGER de BEAUCE , Quebec — The largest maple producer in Quebec is saying that the crop in the province could be the biggest ever . “ For everybody it ’ s a record-breaking crop ,” said Carl Lapierre , who with his father Donald , taps 143,000 in the Beauce region of Quebec . “ This year it has just been phenomenal ,” he said on April 15 . He expected the crop to be 10 or 15 percent above the last record crop . “ We ’ ve had more days of making 30 barrels or more per day than we ever had before ,” Lapierre said .

EDITION

Please see QUEBEC on PG . 30 ➤

BRUCE BASCOM , a 90,000-tap sugarmaker in Alstead , N . H . and one of New England ’ s biggest syrup buyers , and Steve Wheeler , a 4,000 tap producer in Derby , Vt . swap stories about the season . Both men enjoyed record years . “ This is going to be the biggest crop in Vermont in a hundred years ,” Bascom said . “ It ’ s not just big ,

Early results of ’ 16 tap hole sanitation study

Vol . 15 , Issue 2 February 2016

For some ,

NEIL WALLING of Norwich , N . Y draws off during his 41st boil of the season in early April . The season for him lasted more than three months .

SEASON

By STEPHEN CHILDS conditions lead to weak sap flows throughout the season and fairly rapid breakdown of attempts to keep the tap holes sanitary .

The 2016 maple sap season offered an interesting look at the effects of various methods of

We also had problems in the first couple of

keeping the tap hole open and flowing . The weeks with the vacuum pump performance trials were tapped on February 21st and the that was finally corrected with the replacement first sap flow reading taken on February 25th . of the air filter in the oil re-claimer . All treatments had four replications with four taps on

The season turned fairly warm with temperatures in the 50s very early in the season and few freezes usually spaced 5 to 6 days apart . These

U . S . crop likely to be a record

underway

By PETER GREGG

Remember Neil and Tonya Walling ? The couple were featured in The Maple News earlier this year after firing up their rig for the season super early on Jan . 11 . Well after approximately 45 boils and more than three months , the season finally quit at their sugarhouse in Norwich , N . Y . on April 15 . They made 5,050 gallons . “ Amazing season ,” Neil Walling said . “ I ’ m gonna need a month to recover .” It may be hard to exaggerate the size of the crop in the U . S . this year , but it ’ s likely going to be a record breaker . “ It ’ s our biggest season ever ,” said Steve Wheeler , a 4,600-tap producer in Derby , Vt . who made 1,875 gallons . “ It ’ s one for the books .” “ This will be the biggest crop in 100 years ,” said Bruce Bascom , a 90,000-tap producer in Alstead , N . H . and one of the country ’ s biggest bulk buyers . “ It ’ s not just big , it ’ s huge .” Bascom made 42,750 gallons . Bascom said the crop in Vermont will be 50 percent above last year ’ s crop . Another indicator was a sudden short-

pgregg @ themaplenews . com

January tapping has more and more become a trend over the past several years as climates warm and technology improves . And with operations getting so big , starting tapping in January is a must . “ I ’ d like to make 1000 gallons before March , that ’ s my goal ,” said Neil Walling , who with wife Tonya runs Ripple Road Sugar House in Norwich , N . Y . The Wallings got into the woods for the first time with their

Automated R / O comes to market

LAINIE DUFRESNE , 13 , of Dufresne ’ s Sugar House in Williamsburg , Mass . taps the first tree of the 2016 season on Jan . 15 . The family plans to drill about 6,000 taps for the season at their busy operation along Route 9 in the Berkshires .

Please see SEASON on PG . 33 ➤

Early tapping feasible and advisable this year

N

Old spout and drop vs . spout and drop that was new last year

By PETER GREGG pgregg @ themaplenews . com

ORWICH , N . Y .— The early tappers are still reaping rewards . With a handful of sugarmakers making syrup in December , it wasn ’ t much of a stretch to imagine a whole bunch more making syrup in January .

IMPLICATIONS of warm weather on the maple production season . Page 28

Please see STUDY on PG . 28 ➤ 18.3 2nd year s & d old s & d

Please see TAP on PG . 28 ➤

The perfect Valentine ’ s Day maple treat

SCENES FROM VERONA

WALLING GETS his first draw of the season on Monday night , Jan . 11 . He made 100 gallons . Walling says he makes it a regular habit to get holes drilled early in the year to catch the early

FOAM IS THE ENEMY . Father and son team Marty and Nick Wendel of Wendel ’ s Maple Farm in East Aurora , N . Y . host a seminar on fighting foam at the 2016 New York Maple Producers Winter Conference in Verona , N . Y . in January . The family has a new product called a Foam Fighter which automatically dispenses defoamer in the flue pan float box , taking all guesswork out of the defoaming process .

For more Verona photo , see page 25

Importance of focusing on syrup quality

FREE CLASSIFIEDS !

CHECK OUT THE GREAT DEALS INSIDE May 2016

BUY &

May 2016 Page C1

Evaporators | Pans | ROs | Canning & Drums | Filtration | Pumps & Vacuum | Tanks | Accessories | Tubing , Buckets & Spouts | Wanted

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TO PLACE YOUR FREE AD IN

email classifieds @ themaplenews . com call fax 518-692-2204 518-692-2205

regular mail 106 Main Street , Greenwich NY , 12834

By MICHAEL FARRELL

I have been attending the board meetings of the International Maple Syrup Institute for the past several years . The agendas are always interesting and focus on a wide variety of topics of importance to the maple syrup industry , including many facets of marketing and promotion , misrepresentation of maple syrup in the marketplace , and ensuring product quality . I have been fairly surprised by the amount of discussion related to improving the quality of maple syrup in the marketplace , as I never realized how big and widespread a problem it was and continues to be . We all know maple syrup is a pure , natural , and ( usually ) delicious product , but we may not realize the extent to which off-flavors can occur in maple syrup . It is imperative that as we continue to grow the industry , we make concerted efforts to ensure that all of the maple syrup being offered for retail sale is of the highest quality possible and to keep defective syrup out of the hands of all consumers .

The new grading system makes it clear

Please see QUALITY on PG . 32 ➤

Look for these great DEALS INSIDE

5-Gallon Food Grade

Jugs

6x14 , Oil-Fired Evaporator

Set of Stainless Steel Pans

USED EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

2 ’ x6 ’ Leader oil fired evaporator with insulated arch , oil burner , welded Patriot pans ( raised flue ).............$ 5,500

5 ’ x12 ’ Evaporator with Grimm lead free soldered flue pan , SB syrup pan and 5 ’ x12 ’ aluminum hood ............$ 5,500

400 Gallon stainless bulk tank .........................$ 700

2,000 Gallon horizontal tank with manhole on the end , stainless inside and painted outside .................$ 2,500

Goodrich tubing washer .............................$ 675 Airablo tubing washer with gas motor ...............$ 975

Bernard horizontal vacuum releaser ( for up to 6,000 taps ) ....................................................$ 975

Delaval model # 78 vacuum pump with a 13 hp Honda gas motor and extra set of vanes .........................$ 2,500

3 HP Atlantic Fluid vacuum pump ( excellent )...... $ 3,400

Busch model # 1142 vacuum pump with 7 ½ hp three phase motor ..........................................$ 4,200

SIHI water cooled vacuum pump with ¾ hp electric motor ( for 400 +/ - taps )......................................$ 1,100

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ALM2016

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56 U . S . Maple Syrup Almanac 2016