The TaplineSemiannual Newsletter of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association

February 2014

National and Local Experts Speak at Annual Meeting

The latest information about IMSA is always available at the Indiana Maple Syrup Association’s web site.

http://www.indianamaplesyrup.org

Save The Dates Saturday, April 19 – Quarterly Board Meeting

Saturday in May to be announced – Canning Day

Saturday, December 6, 2014 – Annual Meeting of the Indiana Maple Syrup Ass’n in Columbia City

New York speaker (continued on p 3)

About 120 Indiana syrup makers gathered at Mt Summitt Christian Church Fellowship Hall on Saturday, December 7 for the 2013 annual meeting of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association to conduct IMSA busi-ness and hear presentations by IMSA member John Borkholder and Dr. Eric Randall, vice president of the North American Maple Syrup Council.

Borkholder, from Wakarusa, uses a former cheese factory boiler to send steam through copper coils at about 60 lbs pressure to boil fifty to three hundred gallons of sap per hour. A pre-heater, fabricated from milking par-lor pipe, warms the sap and delivers it into a 7ft x 7ft stainless steel pan. When Borkholder has a batch about half way to the end point, no more sap is added and boiling continues until about 7-8 gallons of finished syrup is produced.

Dr. Eric Randall, a botanist and life-long New York maple syrup maker used diagrams and photomicrographs to show us the inside of a maple tree and how sap is transported through the sapwood.

“Realize that only a small per-centage of the body of a maple tree represents cells that are alive,” Randall commented. “Living cells are restricted to a layer under the bark and the shoot and root tips along with leaves during the growing sea-son. That means that, even though a mature maple tree is very large, our activity in the woods – especially over roots and around the bases – can injure the trees. Take very good care of roots. Ultimately it is the network of microscopic root hairs that brings water from the soil through vessels in the wood to your spile.”

Dr. Randall devoted his afternoon

session to topics important to ex-perienced sugar makers as well as novices.

“There are no hobby syrup makers,” Randall quipped. “It’s too much work!”

Still, he noted that there is a strong demand for maple products and many forest owners are interested in produc-ing them.

“Just try to purchase a new evapora-tor for the coming season,” he noted. “July is about the earliest delivery.”

With advances such as reverse os-mosis and vacuum systems, Randall did warn that it is possible that we will

Indiana maple syrup makers gather at their 2013 annual meeting to conduct business and hear from speakers John Borkholder and Dr. Eric Randall. – photo L. Yoder

David Hamilton (2014) President, Central6025 N 100 ENew Castle, IN 47362(765) 836 4432dave@rutherfordsugarcamp.com

Phil Hanner (2016) At Large6500 N 825 WNorman, IN 47264(812) 995 3155pgh6500@gmail.com

Bill Owen (2016) Secretary, Northern0535 S 500 EAvilla, IN 46710(260) 636 2073bkowen60@gmail.com

Roy Childers (2014) Central3509 West River RdPeru, IN 46970(765) 472 2632pchilders_99@yahoo.com

Garry Sink (2015) V-President, Northern17430 Zubrick RoadRoanoke, IN 46783(260) 638 4919gnsink@yahoo.com

Florence Williams Director Emeritus1152 West Egg Farm RdRockville, IN 47872(765) 569 3704

Ron Burnett (2015) Treasurer, South9741 W Baseline RdParagon, IN 46166(765) 537 2375ronburnett88@gmail.com

Art Harris (2016) South99E CR 350NGreencastle, IN 46135765-653 5108aharris@link2000.net

Members of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association are elected for 3 year terms at the IMSA’s annual meeting held the first Saturday of December. Directors elect the officers of the association.

The Tapline is the semiannual newsletter for members of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association, Larry Yoder, editor, larryry@goshen.edu

President’s Column

Dave Hamilton, President, IMSA

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Keith Ruble (2015) At Large397 E Sutliff DrTerre Haute, IN 47802(812) 898 2315

Brent Tubbs (2016) At Large740 W 700 SHudson, IN 46747(260) 667 4141br.tubbs@hotmail.com

Keith Ruble serves as delegate on the North American Maple Syrup Council for the the Indiana Maple Syrup Association through 2015.

Officers and Directors of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association

Dave Hamilton, President of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association. – photo L. Yoder

As I write this we are nearing a record for snowfall in January and are experiencing frigid temperatures that will prevent an early syrup season. I would like to thank all of the IMSA members who attended the annual meeting in Mt. Summit.

Dr. Eric Randall gave an excellent presentation as did our own member, John Borkholder. It was great to have several vendors there as they add a great deal to our one-day meeting.

My apologies are in order for fail-ing to introduce our great members of IMSA’s Board of Directors. Much of the success of our meeting goes to those who helped prepare for the meeting, the members of the Mt. Summit Christian Church who pre-pared the meal and to all of those who helped put chairs and tables away at the conclusion of the meeting. The clean-up process impressed several church members.

This IMSA meeting may be the first time that the president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer of the North American Maple Syrup Council all at-tended the same state meeting.

One of this year’s speakers, Dr. Eric Randall of New York, is the Vice President, Joe Polak, one of our an-nual vendors from Wisconsin, serves as Secretary-Treasurer, and I now wear two hats as your IMSA presi-dent and as president of the North American Maple Syrup Council for the next two years.

Like many of you, I have been un-able (or too big of a wimp) to repair tubing, remove fallen limbs, or make other necessary repairs for the upcom-ing season due the deep snow and frigid temperatures. Let’s hope that things improve soon so that sap will start to flow. I hope all of you have a great season.

DAVE HAMILTON

IMSA’s 2013 Business Session

During the business session of the 2013 annual meeting, Phil Hanner, Art Harris and Brent Tubbs were re-elect-ed to three year terms as directors.

Art and Becky Harris reported on the maple museum they are develop-ing at their sugar camp.

Keith Ruble, who serves as our del-egate, shared highlights of the 2013 national meetings. Technical ses-sions included presentations on the continued threat from the Asian Long Horned Beetle and the importance of heating syrup to 185 F and warming glass containers in order to destroy mold spores when packing syrup. Delegates learned that the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual will undergo another periodic revision.

The next annual meeting for our Indiana association will be held in Columbia City on December 6, the first Saturday of December 2014.

The next meeting of IMSA’s Board of Directors will be April 19, 2014.

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Three current national officers of the North American Maple Syrup Association attended Indiana’s annual meeting in Mt. Summit. Dr. Eric Randall, left, is Vice President; David Hamilton is President, and Joe Polak, right, serves as Secretary-Treasurer. – photo L. Yoder

Dave Hamilton is NAMSC President

At the conclusion of the 2013 North American Maple Syrup Council’s annual October meeting in Moncton, New Brunswick, IMSA’s David Hamilton began his two-year term as President of NAMSC which represents the state and provincial maple producers in Canada and the United States. Outgoing president Cecile Brassard Pichette of Quebec passed the presidential gavel to Dave, who will be joined by Dr. Eric Randall of New York as Vice-President and Joe Polak who continues as Secretary-Treasurer.

“I am honored to serve as President of the North American Maple Syrup Council for the next two years,” Hamilton told the group. “And there is a great support group in place to assist me.”

Mike Girard of Massachusetts serves as Executive Director of NAMSC; and over the years, Mike and Dave have shared committee responsibilities.

One big change that will come during Dave’s tenure is the retirement of Roy Hutchinson of New Hampshire who, as Dave says, “has been an excellent editor of the Maple Digest as far back as I can remember!” Roy retires after the June issue. Winton Pitcoff of Massachusetts will assume the Digest’s editorship at that time.

Dave will preside over NAMSC meetings in Nova Scotia this October, 2014, and the meetings hosted by Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh in 2015.

“My goal as president is to see that NAMSC vigorously promotes the objectives defined in our constitution,” Hamilton commented.

Prime objectives include the charge to promote the best interests of maple producers, to promote research that is beneficial to all of those involved in maple production, and to provide a unified effort in support of the maple industry as well as always being vigilant concerning dan-gers to maple production such as the Asian Long Horned Beetle.

“I look forward to working with the officers and staff of NAMSC, state and provincial delegates and alternates, NAMSC members and the International Maple Syrup Institute,” Hamilton concluded. “After all, we’re all here to promote North America’s sweetest natural product, MAPLE!”

out-produce current demand.

That means continued attention to market-ing. Agrotourism provides opportunity for sugarhouse tours, entertainment, and result-ing sales.

Since sugaring is so weather dependent, his advice is, “Be ready!” That goes for equipment and your plans for the season.

Never tap frozen wood. It damages the trees and is hard on equipment. The speak-er advised using a ball peen hammer and light wrist action in order to feel the “bounce” when a spile is properly set.

Use no bleach in tubing. Squirrels are at-tracted to the residual salt.

Studies show that 5/16 inch and 7/16 inch diameter tap holes yield about the same volume of sap, but 5/16 holes heal faster. Closure in a single year is great. If more than two years are required for heal-ing, something is creating stress. Use care when you tap. Drilling a tap hole causes mechanical damage and permits pathogens to enter. A 19/64 inch bit for a 5/16 inch spile is ideal.

Use the entire diameter of the tree for tap-ping – north side included. Tap in a zigzag pattern from year to year. Such a path permits many seasons to pass before you tap near the hole with which you began. A tap hole penetrates about 10 years worth of growth in a tree growing in ideal conditions.

Most sugaring still takes place in natu-rally seeded forest ecosystems, but future production will likely involve plantations. Soft maples (Red and Silver Maple) should not be overlooked as tappable species. Significant amounts of syrup even from Vermont come from soft maples. A 22 ft spacing in a plantation gives about 70 trees per acre, an ideal population for sap produc-tion. Such a distribution provides sufficient space for open, bushy crowns. (See Keith Ruble’s article about thinning elsewhere in this issue.)

Remember to use food grade plastics or stainless steel whenever sap or syrup will be in contact with a piece of equipment.

“You’ve got to be crazy to keep making maple syrup,” Randall joked as he conclud-ed. “If not, you will be eventually!”

New York speaker (continued from p 1)

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Photo Highlights from the 2013 Annual Meeting

Michigan Ass’n member Larry Haigh, right, presents Dave Hamilton with the “presidential birdbath.”

The noon luncheon was prepared and served by members of the Mt. Summitt Christian Church.

Brent Tubbs and Nancy Sink were proudly attired in their IMSA sweatshirts.

Carol Hamilton and Karann Hawks welcome IMSA members at registration.

Some 120 members and guests heard presentations by John Borkholder and Dr. Eric Randall.

Director Brent Tubbs, left, and Vice President Garry Sink distribute the door prizes as Treasurer Ron Burnett looks on.

We thank the following dealers who exhibited at the meeting and contrib-uted door prizes: Dodd’s Sugar Shack, Haigh’s Maple Syrup Supplies, Harris Sugar Bush, Maple Hollow, RMG Supplies, Sugar Bush Supplies, Sunrise Metal.

photos – L. Yoder

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Crown Release Equals More and Sweeter Sap Keith Ruble

Have you ever wondered why open grown trees produce more and sweeter sap than the ones growing close to each other? Have you ever wondered how you can manage your maple trees to give more and produce sweeter sap? To answer these ques-tions, I would like to share with you from my 37 years of experience in forest management.

Most of my work has been focused on managing trees to create quality timber for recreation and for harvest. To do this, over the years I’ve been involved with activities diverse as planting trees, weed control in forests, Timber Stand Improvement (TSI), pruning, timber appraisals, inventory-ing timber, and marking timber for closed bid sales. Of these, TSI has been my primary concentration. The purpose of TSI is to thin the woodland by killing undesirable trees whose crowns interfere with those of the de-sirable species of crop trees. Cutting or girdling with a chain saw is a useful way to remove such undesirable “weed” trees.

In timber tracts grown primarily for timber production, 1-2 sides of the crop tree’s crown are released from the crowns of competing trees.

Management of maple trees for sap production begins by thinning out competing trees that interfere with the maple tree’s crown. Thinning exposes the crowns to more sunlight. However, maple trees over 16” in diameter at breast height (DBH), will show little response to thinning.

Thinning for sap production should be done in all four compass directions and should be done gradually over several years. Ignore trees that are below the canopy or are not compet-ing with the crowns of the trees you wish to release from competition. This is called cosmetic thinning. Once a competing tree’s branch touches or over tops the crown of the crop tree, the weed tree should be girdled or cut down.

If the woods is too young to tap, you can cut or double girdle the weed trees. Cut a complete girdle at least 1” in depth around the complete circum-ference and a second 6-8” above or below the first cut. The second girdle is for insurance if one fails to kill the tree. If the woods is being tapped, do not girdle since girdled trees could fall and damage you or your tubing and other equipment. Spraying herbicide on girdled or cut trees should only be done when the woods is young and not ready to tap. I recommend using a 50/50 mix of water and concentrated glyphosate (Round-Up) to which a marker dye is added to treat stumps and girdles just inside the bark area. This should be done right after they are cut. Round-up is a very safe her-bicide and has no soil activity. Over a few years, all competitive trees will be dead. If there are grape or other vines growing in your sugar bush, cut and treat them. They will break the tops out of your trees. It is important not to cre-ate overly large openings in the woods as this will result in the growth of unwanted wild berry bushes, vines, etc.

Sprouting from dormant buds under the bark (epiccormic sprouting) occurs when the maple tree is exposed to ad-ditional light. More limbs from these sprouts means more leaves to produce additional food reserves. A good maple sap tree should have a short log or “bole” and a wide, well-

formed crown. Maple trees that are managed to produce large crowns produce and accumulate more food energy reserves in the summer months. During the sugar-ing season, these large crowns will produce much more sap. The amount of direct sunlight received to the tree crown also influences sap sweetness. Trees that grow in an open environment have a higher sap-to-sugar content than similar trees in a dense forest.

Also, it is important to not create a monoculture of only maple trees. The law of ecology states that tree and plant diversity somehow keeps the forest community healthy. It is

good to let better quality hardwood species, like walnut, cherry and oak, coexist with your maple trees.

During planning and development of a maple sugar bush, potential crop trees can be selected from smaller pole size trees. If available, a sap re-fractometer should be used to test the sugar content of potential crop trees. If a tree’s sap is sweet or sweeter than other maple trees around it, make it a crop tree. If you do not have a refrac-tometer, select the tallest maple trees with the widest crowns. Choose the trees with the fewest crown or stem injuries or other deformities. Do not select trees with forked tree crowns as they may be genetically inferior, and the weaker forks will eventually break out.

I have noticed in most maple bushes being tapped that there are a substan-tial number of trees that should be cut

Periodic thinning and selection of “crop trees” among young maple trees leads to a mature sugar bush of trees with full crowns that yield volumninous quantities of sweet sap. – photo K. Ruble

Girdling is a convenient method used to kill selected “weed trees.” – photo L. Yoder

Thinning (continued on p 6)

because they are competing with the crowns of trees being tapped.

Likewise, in many maple bushes, trees with small, spindly tops are being tapped. Such trees should be removed to allow more sunlight to adjacent trees that have greater potential as crop trees. I have found that many owners of maple sugar bushes are like owners of walnut plantations. They cannot bear to cut a maple or walnut even when the trees are overcrowded.

The next time you walk in your sugar bush, look up. Take notice of the crowns of all your trees. If you see maple or other tree species with thin, narrow or poorly formed crowns competing with the crowns of the trees you are presently tapping or plan to tap in the future, you should consider removing them to improve the health of the remaining crop trees. These “weed” trees will never improve due to the stressed condition in which they grow, and they will prevent the crop trees from receiving adequate sunlight for crown expansion.

Additional sunlight to the crowns and moisture to the roots are impor-tant. The ultimate goal of sugar bush management is to enable maple trees to produce large crowns. This, in turn, will provide good yields of sugar-rich sap for many years. Use a spray can with orange or a brightly colored paint to put a dot on two sides of the trees that need to be cut.

When you do go out to cut, be sure at least one other person is with you as a safety partner, and always wear a hard hat, chainsaw chaps and other safety equipment. As you consistently thin each year, the crowns of your maple trees will enlarge, and you will enjoy a greater abundance of sweeter sap.

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Thinning (continued from p 5)

The contact person with informa-tion about maple-related Federal Farm Service Administration pro-grams is Jacob Maxwell, Program Specialist, Indiana State Farm Service Administration.

He may be reached at (317) 295 5907 or at jacob.maxwell@in.usda.gov

Indiana’s 2013 Maple ProductionJeff Settle, Supervisor, Utilization & Marketing (U&M) Program

Indiana Division of Forestry

Shortly after the close of the 2013 Maple Syrup season, 179 question-naires were sent to all known pro-ducers of maple syrup in Indiana. 80 individuals promptly responded to the questionnaire resulting in a 45% response rate, which was the same rate as in 2012. I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the Indiana Maple Syrup Association (IMSA) for their assistance and part-nership in completing the 2013 survey. In today’s world of shrinking budgets, partnerships are essential in order to complete projects like this.

For the sake of comparison of similar climatic regions, the results were broken down per two major regions. The divid-ing line chosen was U.S. Route 40 bisecting the State into a Northern region and a Southern region. Sixteen questionnaires were returned from the south region and 64 came from the northern region.

Of the producers that re-sponded to the questionnaire, 80% of these folks produced syrup in 2013, significantly higher than the 33% reported in 2012. According to many respondents, this was a record year as far as production goes. Nine produc-ers from the southern region and 55 producers from the northern region reported production in 2013.

Seventy five percent of Indiana’s estimated total syrup production of 22,405 gallons was accounted for by 19 large producers. The total number of gallons produced was the highest volume recorded since we began this survey. This year’s production was a little over 70% higher than the 13,161 gallons produced in 2012. Northern producers accounted for 20,503 gal-lons while southern producers gener-ated 1,901 gallons.

Figure 1 shows the total number of gallons produced each year from 2009.

There are 33 counties in the state that have at least one active maple syrup producer. Elkhart County was once again the county with the most reported sugar camps – 15. Kosciusko County was home to the largest sugar camp in the state; pro-ducing 3,840 gallons of syrup. The second largest sugar camp, producing 1,807 gallons, was in Putnam County.

The overall state average for the opening date was 2/12/13 and the closing date was 3/25/13. Regionally, the average opening dates were 2/13/13 and 2/02/13 for the north and south respectfully. The average clos-ing date was 3/27/13 for the north and 3/11/13 for the south.

The average amount of sugar water (sap) needed to produce a gallon of syrup was 41.7 gallons in the north and 46 gallons in the south. The state average was 42.4 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of syrup. These numbers were slightly lower than 2012, with the exception of the south which the ratio was unchanged from 2012. Using these figures, we can estimate that approximately 949,972 gallons of sap were collected in 2013.

The average amount of sap needed in 2013 to produce a gallon of syrup may not be wholly accurate, as some producers do not maintain accurate records of sap inflow.

For those camps that did produce syrup in 2013, the average amount of syrup produced per camp was 350

Figure 1. Total Indiana Syrup Production 2009-2013

2013 Production (continued on p 7)

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gallons, a significantly higher amount than the 223 gallons per camp report-ed in 2012.

Although most sap is collected from trees owned or leased by the pro-ducer, in 2013 producers purchased or processed for others over 453,000 gallons of sap. This represents a bet-ter than 200 percent increase over the 149,425 gallons of sap from outside producers recorded in 2012.

This significant increase is mostly likely due to locating new producers who boil sap for several other land-owners or small producers.

Of the 62,002 taps set in 2013 (a 12% increase from 2012), about 33% of the state’s syrup production was accounted for via producers using only buckets for sugar water collection. 18,496 buckets were used in 2013 for collection purposes. Statewide, the amount of sugar water collected solely by buckets accounted for total syrup production of 7,357 gallons. Thirty three Indiana maple syrup producers used an average of 560 buckets in their collection operations.

Figure 2 shows the total number of taps used each year from 2009 to present.

Buckets continue to remain the most popular way to collect syrup regard-less of the region.

The largest single producer utiliz-ing buckets hung 3,350 buckets in the northern region and 100 buckets in the southern half.

Figure 2. Total Indiana Taps 2009-2013

Figure 3. Types of Taps Used in Indiana 2013

Figure 3 shows the num-ber of producers per type of tap used in 2013.

The use of plastic bags increased from 11,453 in 2012 to 16,407 in 2013. Sixteen producers used plastic collection bags in 2013. Many of these producers also used buckets and or tubing as well. Producers using only bags to collect sap set on the average, approximately 1,313 taps. Those using only bags for sap collection accounted for 3,735 gallons in 2013. On a regional basis, those using plastic sap collection bags were split pretty evenly between the two regions. Six northern producers using 4,082 bags produced 1,777 gallons of syrup. Five producers in the south-ern region using only plastic bags collected 1,656 gallons and set 11,185 bags for collection.

A number of producers utilize tubing for sap collection and more are converting to this method as terrain, dollars and results allow. Statewide, 14 producers used over 437,000 feet (83 miles) of tubing for collection purposes in 2013. Those using tubing produced 7,082 gal-lons of syrup.

The statewide av-erage price received for a retail gallon of syrup was $40.52 which is almost iden-tical to the $40.54 for 2012.

The price per retail gallon in the south was $48.00, based on only one response from the south that included price information.

Northern produc-ers averaged $40.25 per retail gallon.

The average statewide price received for a quart of retail syrup was $13.29.

This year more repsonses included information about pricing per pint. The state average per retail pint was $10.35.

The statewide wholesale price per gallon was $35.40.

Figure 4 shows the average price per retail gallon of syrup since for the past 5 years.

The statistics gathered from our 2013 maple syrup production ques-tionnaire most likely will not reflect the true income generated from Indiana’s producers. The estimated statewide reported syrup income for 2013 (ob-tained by multiplying the average price per gallon times the reported produc-tion) is $907,850.

However, if one accounts for syrup that was consumed via the produc-ers’ family, given away, or simply not reported, the calculated dollar figure may very well conservatively grow to almost $1.1 million. Assuming this figure to be realistic, the average dol-lar return per tap hole is $17.56, much higher than the $11.66 reported in the 2012 maple syrup producer’s survey.

Figure 5 shows the estimated eco-nomic return for maple syrup produc-tion during the past 5 years.

Sales do not appear to be a limiting factor for Indiana producers. Rather, unfavorable weather and/or short tap-ping seasons seem to be the great-est impediment to finding our maple fortunes.

Prime tapping conditions occur with below-freezing temperatures overnight and a fairly fast thaw in the mornings.

2013 Production (continued from p 6)

2013 Production (continued on p 8)

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Figure �. Estimted Economic Impact for Maple Syrup Production 2009-2013

Among producers who commented on the season, 70% reported that 2013 was above average, 22% rated it as average, and only 8% found it to be below average.

Overall, most of the produced syrup is sold at a retail level. Of those reporting production, almost 30% indi-cate that a portion of their production is given away or consumed domesti-cally. These producers tend to be smaller in scope and production.

Packaging preferences show that the majority favors retail sales in gal-lon containers, somewhat fewer favor

quarts, with some preferring smaller units for retail sales.

A few producers offer items such as maple sugar, creams, candies, or cookies. However, these maple products do not account for substantial percentages of any one producer’s sales.

We are all aware that each sugar bush has unique characteristics and that no two bushes produce alike. Although Indiana is a relatively small geographic area, the variation in weather is significant as evi-denced by prior years.

As reported earlier, conditions in 2013 were well above average with many producers report-ing record production.

Forty eight respon-dents stated they would

like to be listed in the Indiana Maple Syrup Producers Brochure.

As time and funds permit, we are hoping to prepare an updated bro-chure. Additionally, we believe it would be beneficial to have “Indiana generic” maple syrup articles on hand for the barrage of requests from re-porters for local newspapers and other media during sugaaring.

Since the USDA’s agricultural census does not include maple syrup production in Indiana despite IMSA’s request that we be included with the other larger maple produc-ing states, the Indiana Maple Syrup Association provides funding for the Indiana Division of Forestry to conduct our own state survey.

Your response to Jeff Settle’s questionnaire is the only way we have to gather state-wide informa-tion about maple syrup production in Indiana.

Thanks for your participation.

2013 Production (continued from p 7)

Pan for Sale

Mike and Carrie Grimard have a stainless steel evaporator pan for sale that Carrie’s father used 30 years ago to make maple syrup.

It has no dividers and it measures 98 ¾ “ long, 42” wide, and 10” deep.

You may contact them at 812-636-7192 or by e mail at mcg307@centurytel.net

I sincerely thank all the maple pro-ducers for their prompt questionnaire responses. I have updated our maple database and will continue to be a contact for Indiana maple products.

Please remember that the data compiled in this report is only as good as the data received.

To be able to more accurately report maple syrup production figures, we’ll continue to need a high response rate. Although our time is limited for per-sonal visits to your operation, we do welcome your calls and inquiries on all facets of maple production.

Special forest products such as maple syrup contribute substantially to many rural folk’s income while offering wholesome therapy at the same time.

Figure �. Average Price per Gallon 2009-2013