- [Mark] This is Mark Isselhart,
maple specialist with the University of Vermont Extension,
and this is another "Vermont Maple Minute."
The 2021 Vermont maple season has come to an end.
The official crop totals will not be released
by the USDA until sometime in June.
Reports from sugar makers around the state describe
a tough season for production.
Many producers reported seeing lower than average
sap sweetness this season,
which contributed to reduced syrup production.
Early estimates put the Vermont crop somewhere
between two-thirds and three-quarters
of the anticipated total.
Sugar makers who were still collecting
over the last week of March benefited from cooler weather
or even freezing nights.
As a result, many sugar makers were pleased
to see the sap sweetness tick upward
in addition to better rates of sap flow.
Seeing the sap sweetness increase after a freezing event
is related to the conversion of a tree's stored starch
to soluble sugar.
Some trees and some sugar bushes
have sweeter sap than others.
And what is average for one operation,
maybe below average for another.
Careful forest management can play a role
in growing healthy trees
that maximize the production of sugar in summer.
Off flavors have already begun to be detected
in the first in of April
as temperatures rise and sap becomes harder to keep fresh.
This is Mark Isselhart,
maple specialist with the University of Vermont Extension,
and this has been another "Vermont Maple Minute."