- [Mark] This is Mark Isselhardt,
maple specialist with the University of Vermont Extension,
and this is another Vermont Maple Minute.
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, or NASS,
has released the crop totals for the 2020 maple season.
Vermont led the us again in total production,
with 2.2 million gallons.
That is 50% of all the syrup made in the country.
Vermont sugar makers also produced more syrup per tap
than any other state,
with an average of 0.36 gallons of syrup per tap.
This is more than 20% higher than the US average.
NASS is the official entity
responsible for measuring agricultural products.
NASS's stated mission is to provide
timely, accurate, and useful statistics
in service of US agriculture.
Each year, sugar makers from around the US
fill out a volunteer survey.
Questions range from how many taps you have,
when did you begin collecting sap, how long was the season,
and how many gallons of syrup you produced.
Collectively, the answers to these questions
provide the most accurate statistics available
for maple production.
However, the accuracy is only as good
as the data being entered.
If new operations come online
or producers do not fill out the survey,
NASS has to rely on estimation to fill in the gaps.
For those with privacy concerns,
it's important to know that, by law,
NASS is not allowed to share the data
collected from producers
with any other governmental agency.
This is Mark Isselhardt,
maple specialist with the University of Vermont Extension,
and this is another Vermont Maple Minute.