Maple syrup season off to running start

Sap is running at maple syrup producers across the region as the season officially gets underway with most commercial operators fully tapped.

Maple syrup season is officially underway at syrup producers across the region.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness (OMAFA), while no syrup has been made yet across Simcoe County, most producers’ taps are fully or nearly fully tapped. Mostly minor sap flows were reported.

“We just turned on our vacuums. You’re starting to see sap come in from the lines. We’re just purging the air out and later today, we’ll go looking for leaks,” said Paul Partridge, co-owner of Backwoods Maple Syrup.

The Backwoods Team says they run vacuums in their bush, which are used to suck sap out of the trees as opposed to waiting for it to trickle down.

“It’s similar to last year. It’s more of a traditional season starting in March,” said Corey Vandergast, co-owner of Backwoods Maple Syrup. “The current forecast for the next two weeks is pretty much perfect weather for us. We have a couple days where we don’t have freezing at night which isn’t optimal, but other than that, it’s pretty much perfect.”

Best sap-running conditions

When it comes to prime conditions, maple trees prefer high pressure systems on crisp and sunny days which gets the sap moving, according to Brent Beers, a regional representative for the Simcoe and District Maple Syrup Producers Association.

Producers say the best temperatures for optimal sap production is daytime highs between 5 and 7 degrees Celsius and at night, below freezing to have a prosperous run.

Jack McFadden, president of Simcoe and District Maple Syrup Producers Association, says the deep snowpack has kept tree roots insulated and when there’s sun, it warms the trunk and the sap is ready to rise.

Producers say rain is okay so long as it spreads out through the season. On the other end of the spectrum, a dry season isn’t great either as it doesn’t create a lot of sap production.

The amount of sunshine plays a big role in how quickly the sap rises up the tree and the length of the run.

Some local operators have had to deal with the effects of the ice storm, which took out maple trees at about 20 feet above the ground. They could have just a little over half of their previous taps this year due to the storm.

Threats to maple syrup production

One of the threats to strong maple syrup production is spongy moths, the furry caterpillars that eat their way through maple trees and are a pest in maple orchards.

Something else that can go wrong in the process is a phenomenon called buddy syrup.

Buddy syrup is caused by chemical compounds building up over the course of the season and peaking into buds before the leaves emerge. It can make maple syrup taste off like malty, peppery, cabbage-like or the flavour of expired orange juice.

Unfortunately, every year producers end up getting thousands of litres of maple syrup that can’t use or sell.