Maple syrup producers may be in for an especially good season but they will know for sure only when the season starts.
With this year’s cold February and cooler long-term forecast, producers at the Waterloo Wellington Maple Syrup Producers first tap ceremony on Feb. 27, did not foresee tapping to begin before March 10. That is late for an industry that has normally begun tapping by the end of February.
But the cold autumn may mean a better, if delayed, season for producers.
“November was abnormally cold,” said Ray Bonenberg, president of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association, at the tapping ceremony held at George L. Martin’s farm in Waterloo. “When the ground freezes, the tree stores starch and glucose in the root system and when it freezes that converts to a higher percentage of sugar.”
If the ground does not freeze before the first snow, that snow can act as an insulator and the roots may not freeze, he explained.
Because of this year’s cold autumn conditions, Bonenberg said sap could produce 30 per cent more syrup than the same volume of sap other years.
For example, a tree naturally has about a two per cent sugar level so it would take 43 litres of sap to produce one litre of maple syrup, he said. This season, because the ground froze in November, there could be a 3% sugar level, meaning it would take only 28 litres of sap to produce one litre of maple syrup. That is a 15 litre difference in sap needed and could mean more syrup is produced, Bonenberg said.
Right now though, it is a guessing game according to Terry Hoover, the newly elected president of the Waterloo Wellington Maple Syrup Producers.
“It’s strictly mother nature and she doesn’t tell us ahead what she’s planning so we watch the AccuWeather two-week forecast and you hit and miss, and you try to get that first run because you can’t tap too early,” he explained.
The producers are all on standby, waiting for the ideal conditions of around -8C at night and 8 or 10C during the day to have the sap flow. Right now, the trees aren’t producing, Bonenberg said.
“The trees are dormant; they’re frozen so they’re not waking up at all in any way, shape or form,” he said.
All producers are waiting for the ideal freeze thaw cycle and when that happens they’ll start tapping the trees to collect the sap.
The Waterloo and Wellington area is the most economically profitable region in all of Ontario, Bonenberg said.
“Economically, this is the powerhouse and it’s almost up there in amount produced. Lanark [County], eastern Ontario, produces just a bit more but doesn’t create as much money economically,” he said.
Woolwich Township Mayor Sandy Shantz, said, “We’ve heard what a great industry maple producing is for the province and for the area, and of course we’re very proud of our heritage of producing maple syrup and our maple syrup festival.”
Because of that economic strength, many of the producers have sophisticated collection methods. Hoover said the majority of the producers use a tube and vacuum system.
That means all of the trees are connected by tubes that run into a centralized container for processing. Because the holes are sealed for the process to work, the pressure around the hole remains high even when the atmospheric pressure decreases, tricking the tree into believing it is sunny and the conditions are still ideal for sap creation and encouraging the sap to flow, he explained.
This system also seals the hole and helps slow down the tree’s natural healing process. When the tree is tapped and the sap is collected in a bucket, the hole is exposed to air and bacteria, and that helps the trunk to heal. The hole will normally stay open for six weeks, so if producers tap early, there is potential the hole will close before the season is done, Hoover continued.
Bonenberg said, typically, the production season runs for five to six weeks depending on environmental conditions. Last year, which saw cold temperatures similar to this winter, the season was three weeks long.
Once taping happens it is ideal for the temperature to stay cool, because the production season is over when the temperature warms and buds start to appear on the trees.
“You don’t want to taste buddy syrup; it’s foul,” Hoover said. “And you can’t do anything with it. You can’t dilute it … It’s garbage. So then you have to quit.”
Bonenberg said that because there is snow everywhere, it will keep the tree colder when the atmosphere starts to warm up, and may also provide more moisture for the tree’s roots as it melts, making a better run of sap.
For now producers can only wait.
