With the official tapping of the first tree here on Feb. 22, the maple syrup season, like the sap, is off and running across this region.
While there are still some recreational producers boiling a bit of sap over an open fire and making a few gallons of pancake topping for their families and friends, make no mistake, maple syrup is a thriving business in this area and across the province.
“It’s a growing industry,” says Fred Martin, president of the Waterloo-Wellington Maple Syrup Producers (WWMSP). “People here have really embraced the whole industry.”
According to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF), about 2,600 maple producers set out an estimated 1.3 million taps each spring. That makes Ontario the third largest syrup-producing province, with production valued at $11.2 million concentrated largely in the southwest.
The highest producing areas in Ontario are the Waterloo-Wellington region in the south, and Lanark County in eastern Ontario. OMAF estimates production across the province grew by about 30 per cent between 1975 and 2008 and has been relatively steady with a production of about one million litres of syrup per year since then.
Canada and the United States are the only two maple syrup-producing countries in the world. In 2006, worldwide production of maple syrup was estimated at 40,990 metric tonnes, with Canada accounting for 82% of that, and the United States the remainder.
“We’re really blessed to live in North America. North America is the only geographical area in the world where they produce maple syrup,” Wellington-Halton Hills MP Michael Chong noted at the Feb. 22 tapping ceremony.
Martin says it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how many producers are operating locally and measure their output, because many don’t belong to the association or sell through retail outlets.
The scale of local operations, he says, ranges from “just a little shack in the woods,” to major producers tapping thousands of trees and running the sap through industrial-size evaporators.
“We could have producers tapping a couple of hundred trees, to some with 10 or 15 thousand taps,” said Martin.
As for any competition between Waterloo-Wellington and Lanark for the title of Ontario’s top producer, Martin says this area probably has more producers in total, while Lanark boasts larger individual operations.
However, neither county has producers tapping as many trees as Quebec, where some operations boast 50,000 to 100,000 taps.
Technology plays a part in the smooth flow of syrup production. Martin notes serious producers today use a system of vacuum tubing that runs between tapped trees, rather than carrying sap in buckets. It’s a system that requires preparation well ahead of the sap season.
“That way you’re spreading your work out over the winter,” he points out.
Once the sap is collected, processing begins.
“Sap is two or three percent sugar and 97 or 98 per cent is just water that you boil out to get your final maple sugar,” Martin explained.
Today, many producers utilize a reverse osmosis process to speed up the water removal before moving the substance into large evaporators for final processing.
While taste is still the big attraction, Martin feels maple syrup is gaining in popularity because, with its base of natural sugars and reputed anti-oxidant qualities, it is healthier than more-processed sweets.
“People are much more aware of the importance of having healthy products that are good for them and their children,” he said, adding, “Maple syrup is a great health product, used in moderation like anything.”
Drayton area producer Edgar Gingrich has been making maple syrup for the past 25 years. He taps about 1,800 trees on his own property and another 1,000 in a rented sugar bush.
Gingrich notes syrup is produced in four different grades, with the lightest syrup generally produced from the early sap run and the darkest coming near the end of the season.
“Generally, the darker the syrup, the more flavour,” explained Gingrich, who sells his products almost exclusively through a booth at the St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market.
Prospects for the coming season were very much in discussion at the first tree tap ceremony, held at a Woolwich Township sugar bush operated by Paul and Dale Martin and attended by about 60 area producers, politicians and media representatives.
The Martins, who tap between 9,000 and 10,000 trees, are among the local producers hoping for a good season after a difficult 2012.
“It’s an exciting time for us. It’s an exciting time for maple syrup producers,” said Dale Martin. “There’s a certain adrenalin rush at this time of year that only the syrup producer can understand.”
In southwestern Ontario, the window of opportunity for collecting typically runs four to six weeks.
“Last year, the season was about two weeks because of all the warm weather we had,” said Fred Martin.
While producers are optimistic for a better run this year, the WWMSP president notes last summer’s lengthy drought has had an impact on the moisture content of the trees and producers must take care not to jeopardize their health by taking too much sap.
“As syrup producers, we’re concerned. These trees are very beautiful things and we certainly want to take care of them.”
However, the wetter fall weather and recent snow have improved prospects, Martin feels.
Gingrich agrees.
“I think we’re going to have a good year,” he said, noting the deeper snow this year will help keep the tree roots cooler.
“But we still need warm days and cool nights,” he pointed out.
Fred Martin commented, “The water table is almost where we’d like to see it. We have a lot of hope and optimism with the kind of weather we’ve been having, that we’ll have a little more normal season this year.
“We can tell you better May 1st.”
Maple syrup festivals
Among the highlights of the season in any syrup-producing region are the annual maple syrup festivals. Such events allow area residents and tourists to not only enjoy a taste of maple nectar, but also to meet with local producers, witness production in action and enjoy numerous outdoor activities.
Some of the biggest festivals in Ontario are held just outside the boundaries of Wellington County.
The Elmira Maple Syrup Festival is billed as the world’s largest one-day maple syrup festival. The event involves over 2,000 volunteers and area businesses, with proceeds distributed to local charities and community organizations. The 2013 event will be held on April 6, from 7am to 4pm and kicks off, of course, with a pancake breakfast. Other events include a pancake flipping contest, antique and collectible shows, craft booths and other exhibits, a log-sawing competition and a sugar bush tour. The 2014 festival will be the 50th anniversary. For more information go to www.elmiramaplesyrup.com.
The Holstein Maplefest is now in its 19th year. Presented by the Egremont Optimist Club, the 2013 event will be held April 13 and 14 at Ray Love’s sugar bush on Grey County Road 109. The event includes demonstrations of maple syrup production, ice cream-making, taffy pulling, a craft show and sale, and musical entertainment, including an appearance by the Fergus Pipe Band. For full details go to www.holsteinmaplefest.com.
The Belmore Maple Syrup Festival is in its 46th year as a community fundraiser. The 2013 event will be held on April 11 and 13. The festival takes place in the Belmore Community Centre. April 11 is senior’s day at the festival, while April 13 will include special activities for young people. For information visit http://www.southbrucetourism.org.
Locally, there is even a high school program operated from Edgewood Camp and Conference Centre in Eden Mills that produces maple syrup as part of the Community Environmental Leadership Program (CELP). Students learn to set up the boilers, tap the trees and collect and boil the sap, then bottle the syrup.
A Maple Syrup Festival will be held at Edgewood on April 6. The event is a fundraiser for the CELP program.
