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- This is Mark Isselhardt,

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Maple Specialist with
University of Vermont Extension.

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And this is another Vermont Maple Minute.

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The 2021 Vermont maple
season has come to an end.

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The official crop totals
will not be released

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from the USDA until sometime in June.

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Reports from sugar makers around the state

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describe a tough season
for syrup production.

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Early estimates put the Vermont crop

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somewhere between two
thirds and three quarters

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of the expected total.

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The weather was a common factor

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cited for the relatively poor crop.

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Sap will not flow if temperatures
remain below freezing,

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but having too much
warmth is also a problem.

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The last Vermont crop to
be significantly impacted

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by sustained abnormally
high temperatures was 2012.

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That year there was a
stretch of four or five days

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in the 70s near the end of March.

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Sap flow was severely reduced

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and syrup quality
impacted after that event.

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While 2021 did not have quite
the extreme temperatures,

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there was a period of warmth
that impacted sap flow

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and likely contributed to
a less than average crop.

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Many sugar makers had ended the season

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or were nearly done by
the first week in April.

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When a given sugar maker stops producing

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can depend on weather

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or on what markets
exist for their product.

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This is Mark Isselhardt,

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Maple Specialist with
University of Vermont Extension.

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And this has been another
Vermont Maple Minute.