Canada's iconic maple trees started producing sap earlier this year due to abnormally mild temperatures, and caught syrup producers by surprise.
In late January, many parts of Canada felt an increase in temperatures, leading maple trees to produce sap. During this period it is important for maple syrup producers to prepare the trees by drilling holes in them to gather the sap, which is later turned into maple syrup.
However, milder temperatures came before some of the producers could tap into maple trees, meaning that none of the sap was collected at some farms. For producers who did collect the sap, the syrup produced from it will likely have a different taste and colour than consumers are used to.
"We're looking at the early forecasts and seeing the warm weather, but didn't expect that it would be as prolonged as it was," Jamie Fortune, owner of Fortune Farms Maple Sugar Bush just outside of Carleton Place, Ont., told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. "So we didn't start tapping early. Now many of the larger producers, with tens of thousands of taps, start tapping in January, December, so they would have got some saplings here in the last week when the weather was so mild."
Quebec harvests more than 91 per cent of the country's maple syrup, with New Brunswick producing the second-highest yield in 2021, followed by Ontario.
According to Fortune, maple syrup producers do not expect the sap to run in January.
"If we think of the season, normally starting beginning of March, this early run is really a bonus, it gives people that were able to gather the sap in our area, maybe an extra 10 to 15 per cent of production for the year. So it's good thing," he said.
Fortune, who is also president of the Lanark and District Maple Syrup Producers' Association, said typical weather for late February in the Ottawa valley is around -10 C. Cooler temperatures mean the sap does not run.
When early-season sap is collected, the syrup produced from it will be a darker shade and taste different.
"This early season sap generally has a lower sugar content," Fortune said. "So if you're running below two per cent in sugar, that means you need a lot more of it by volume to make a litre of syrup and the more you process it generally the longer it's being boiled, the darker the syrup gets."
Fortune also said minerals in the sap may have an effect on the colour of the syrup.
The unpredictability of the arrival of warmer weather can be difficult for syrup producers to anticipate, but new technology that increases productivity can help make the most out of a season, Fortune said.
"The major producers now all of us use vacuum systems," Fortune said. "Vacuum systems are airtight so that you don't get oxygen getting into the cap holes."
In the past, maple syrup producers would tap a spout into the tree, which allows the sap to run in a bucket. Now, many large-scale producers are sucking the sap out of the tree with vacuums, allowing for increased levels of productivity.
"You're evacuating the sap from the line so sap doesn't run back up into the tree either," Fortune said. "So that helps to maintain the sap flow rate from the beginning of the season to the end at quite high levels."
Producers are also using a technique called reverse osmosis which removes water from the sap, reducing the boil time and energy needed to create maple syrup.
Last year's maple syrup yield was record-breaking, with 79.1 million litres produced -- a 53.8 per cent increase from 2021 and the highest harvest since 2008.
Predictions for this year's yield cannot be determined yet, but producers are waiting patiently for the shift in weather.
"We're getting ready to start making syrup when the next warm spell comes," Fortune said.
