Maple syrup production has been spotty so far across Wisconsin, mostly due to lingering snow loads and chilly temperatures.
In northeast Wisconsin, Alicia Baroun of Maple Buzz in De Pere says her family has had the best season in over 60 years. She has collected roughly 10,000 gallons of sap from about 1,500 taps compared to roughly 8,000 gallons last year. They’re wrapping up the sap collection season this week.
But this isn’t the case for everyone in Wisconsin, says Baroun, who serves as the maple marketing intern for the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producers Association. She says snow can be an asset and a detriment to maple syrup producers.
“The snow helps to insulate the roots, so when we have days that are warm, like if there’s a 50 degree day, then the roots are insulated which makes them less likely to bud,” she says. “But if there’s too much snow, the frost in the ground doesn’t come out, so the tree never really wakes up and never starts producing sap until the snow will melt down and the frost can come out.”
Baroun says the warm weather this week will help. Pete Roth of Roth Sugar Bush on the other side of the state agrees.
Some producers in Wisconsin are wrapping up their tapping season, others are full steam ahead this week. Roth Sugar Bush is off of Highway 29 in Cadott. Roth is in the middle of his season. The family has been making maple syrup since the 1950s. They boil from about 19,000 taps, selling syrup across the U.S. They also supply equipment to other producers. He expects his season to last through April 20.
“We’re right in the middle of it. The weather looks good for at least another week,” Roth says. “Right where we are, we still got quite a bit of snow in the woods and if you go north of us, there’s even more snow.”
Both Roth and Baroun are satisfied with the quality of their sap.
There are some lingering supply chain challenges that can cause a headache. Baroun says glass jars have more than doubled in price. And Roth says producers can’t get their hands on screen-printed plastic jugs — you either have to wait or label your own jugs.
On the equipment side of things, Roth says he can’t install automation fast enough — demand is growing quickly. He says his clients used to be farmers and loggers — folks whose day jobs were on-site in the spring. Today, more maple syrup producers have a day job outside the home, and need to be able to run their pumps from their smartphones.
“They can fully automate their system so when they get home at 5 o’clock, the sap is in the tank, and they can go out in the sugarhouse and boil and be in bed at 10 o’clock at night so they can work their normal jobs the next day,” Roth says.
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