- This is Mark Isselhardt,
Maple Specialist with 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
from the USDA until sometime in June.
Reports from sugar makers around the state
describe a tough season for syrup production.
Early estimates put the Vermont crop
somewhere between two thirds and three quarters
of the expected total.
The weather was a common factor
cited for the relatively poor crop.
Sap will not flow if temperatures remain below freezing,
but having too much warmth is also a problem.
The last Vermont crop to be significantly impacted
by sustained abnormally high temperatures was 2012.
That year there was a stretch of four or five days
in the 70s near the end of March.
Sap flow was severely reduced
and syrup quality impacted after that event.
While 2021 did not have quite the extreme temperatures,
there was a period of warmth that impacted sap flow
and likely contributed to a less than average crop.
Many sugar makers had ended the season
or were nearly done by the first week in April.
When a given sugar maker stops producing
can depend on weather
or on what markets exist for their product.
This is Mark Isselhardt,
Maple Specialist with University of Vermont Extension.
And this has been another Vermont Maple Minute.