Author: Les Ober

Maple Syrup – Color vs Flavor Revisited

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Maple syrup has always been graded using a color standard.  Back in your grandfather’s day, color was the single most important characteristic.  The original research, conducted by C.O. Willits in the 1950s, tracked the change in color during the boiling process.  As the temperature and length of boil increased, the color moved from very light to dark.  Flavor was mentioned, but little was known about the chemistry that determined flavor.  One of the reasons for color’s importance was establishing the dollar value of the product with Light Amber syrup bringing the highest prices.  For the producer, there was little incentive to make darker syrup to sell at a lower dollar value.  Fast forward to today’s market – producers typically receive the same dollar amount for the top three grades of syrup.

When a consumer is shopping for maple syrup, they are immediately drawn to an attractive glass bottle of amber-colored maple syrup sitting on a shelf.  Nothing can ruin that image faster than opening the bottle and finding out that the syrup has little flavor or, even worse, an objectionable taste.  For decades we have been told that color and flavor are interrelated, yet when it comes to flavor, there must be more to the story than the standard color/flavor relationship.

Even though the current maple syrup grading standard includes a flavor descriptor, flavor remains one of the hardest characteristics to standardize.  We now realize that multiple factors come together to form the flavor of maple syrup.  It is a combination of microbes present in the sap that changes the liquid’s chemistry as it moves through the boiling process.  Maple sap coming from the tree is comprised of 2% sucrose sugar, minerals, and other compounds.  When microbes interact with sugar, fermentation happens.  The fermentation changes a portion of the sucrose into glucose and fructose sugar compounds.  These latter two types of sugar are called invert sugars.  During the heating process, color is formed through what is known as the Maillard Reaction.  Two things happen when sap boils, density (brix level) increases and the pH of the sap initially increases (more alkaline) and then decreases (more acidic). The color is set when the rising brix level crosses the declining pH level.  The closer this interaction is to a pH of 7, the lighter the syrup.  The higher the pH is above 7, the darker the syrup.  This process also releases a broad range of flavor compounds.  A 2009 report Maple Syrup-Production, Composition, Chemistry and Sensory Characteristics stated that “over 130 volatile flavor compounds have been identified in maple syrup.”  Many of the compounds are desirable; however, others have a negative impact on both color and flavor.  This leads to the belief that color and flavor are interrelated.  However, this is not always the case.

When we label a syrup by its color alone, the results can be deceiving.  A good example is the re-appearance of light color syrup at the end of the season.  The light color indicates that the grade is Golden or an Amber, but the flavor indicates that the syrup is sub-standard.  Dr. Tim Perkins, in a recent edition of Maple Digest, described the process.  Under normal circumstances, boiling sap is increasingly alkaline reaching a pH of 8 or 9.  As more water is boiled off, the density (brix) of the liquid increases and pH becomes more acidic. As syrup finishes, pH drops back to around 7.0.  However, this is what may occur at the end of a season where warm weather and poor sanitation has taken their toll.  Sap’s pH levels drop excessively, and the liquid becomes extremely acidic.  As a result, the pH level of boiling sap may never rise above 7.0, and the liquid reaches 66 brix before darkening occurs, causing the syrup to remain light in color.  Mother nature can easily deceive producers into thinking their season has just turned round, but the truth is syrup with light color but bad off-flavor that ultimately is not fit for sale.

This is just one of several effects caused by Sour Sap.  Sour sap/syrup is the result of excessive microbial buildup and poor sanitation resulting in the formation of a strong objectional flavor and sometimes a thick viscous syrup that is referred to as Ropey Syrup.  It can show up at any time during the season, but especially at the end of the season.  Sour Sap can be managed with proper sanitation.  However, if ignored, it can destroy the value of your product.  Producers often blame the end of the season on the emergence of buds when in reality it is the formation of massive microbial colonies in their system that is shutting them down.

Other natural off-flavors include Buddy Syrup, which appears at the end of the season when maple leaves start to emerge.  Buddy off-flavor is often confused with Sour Sap; however, the flavor is more of a tootsie roll flavor.  It is more readily identified by an overpowering smell caused by sulfur compounds formed in the tree and precipitated out during the boiling process.  Metabolism is a true natural off-flavor.  It is caused by environmental conditions that cause an increase in dimethylpyrazine amino acids in the tree.  There is very little that can be done to change the onset of metabolism, and it is often very hard to detect before the boiling process.

It is up to producers to eliminate the possible sale of syrups containing off-flavors.  Producers must realize that every time a bottle of their syrup is placed on a shelf, their reputation is on the line.  For the consumer, the choices are simple when it comes to buying a product off the shelf.  It comes down to complete product satisfaction and a repeat customer or fool me once and you will not have a second chance to fool me again.

A Different Kind of Maple Season for Ohio Producers

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Thanks to Les Ober for contributing his annual state of the maple season address.  I also wanted to note the following: Due to disruptions in federal weather/climate data as well as some OSU personnel transitions, the Growing Degree Days calendar was a bit glitchy throughout the season.  Folks are working hard to ensure the GDD tracker is back up and running efficiently just as soon as possible.

It was another unusual maple season across Ohio.  Unlike the last few years when the season started in January, this year Mother Nature flipped the script.  Ohio was really stuck in the middle as far as weather was concerned.  While northeast Ohio was on the cold side, central and southern Ohio benefited from warm air occasionally pushing up from the Gulf. This gave producers in the mid-region of the state an extra week or two of very favorable maple production weather, and in most cases, resulted in above normal production.  After a very cold January and February, most Northeast Ohio producers started tapping at the end of February or first week in March.  Southern and central Ohio started tapping a few weeks earlier from first of February until around Valentine’s Day.  No matter which part of Ohio you examine, tapping was 3-4 weeks later than previous years kicking off a short but productive season.

A productive season was a blessing, considering the poor seasons that many producers experienced in the past 2 years.  For Northeast Ohio producers, the season held out until the third week of March due to a late influx of cold air that barely overcame a couple of warm spells.  Many Northeast Ohio producers managed to pull out a full month’s production, overcoming the unusual swings in temperature.  When you have extreme changes in weather, you often experience large volumes of sap coming in at one time.  The Ray Gingerich family at Deer Run Maple in Colebrook, Ohio, reported an average crop for the season.  Dan Gingerich said that they made over 70% of their crop in 2 weeks.  As another example, the Ohio State-Mansfield sugarbush boasted its second-best year of syrup production in just 17 days from tapping until the lines were closed.  This proves what my father told me many times, “You can make a lot of syrup in two weeks.”

Ohio consumers will not have to worry about a shortage of pure Ohio Maple Syrup in 2025.  The syrup tended to be a little darker than last year, but the flavor has been very good.  Last year the Brix level of the sap was low, 1.5 % in many woods.  This year Brix was higher, around 2 percent, and that helped improve the yield per tap.  Most stores and shops throughout the state are stocked up with a variety of maple products.  The popularity of Maple Value-Added products continues to grow.  This includes flavor infused Bourbon, Vanilla, and Cinnamon syrups. Although the Value-Added products are made with Pure Maple Syrup, remember they cannot be sold as pure maple syrup because of the added flavor.  In fact, there is now a separate class at local, state, and regional syrup contests for judging these products.  The most popular has been Bourbon Barrel Aged Syrup which is not infused but rather aged in Burbon barrels which enhances the flavor of maple syrup with the taste of aged Bourbon.  Many Ohio producers have mastered the art of maple syrup flavor enhancement and are now including them in their product line.

In the Eastern States after a late start, fighting heavy snow, and extremely cold weather, the season is shaping up to be average to slightly above average.  The 2025 season is just now wrapping up for New York and the New England producers except for the furthest north sugarbushes.  It has been a mixed bag in southern New England, and parts of Michigan and Wisconsin suffered catastrophic ice storms that hurt this year’s production and wreaked havoc that will be felt for years to come.  The real surprise was the Mid-Atlantic States in places like West Virginia that benefited from the unusual weather patterns.  While most were frozen solid, they had enough warmth to keep the sap running but not so much warm temperatures that sanitation suffered.  The result was an excellent crop.

All and all, what started out looking like a busted season, ended up being average or slightly above.  Over the last five years, Ohio maple producers have learned how to adapt to the weather.  In a way, it was good to see a more traditional winter.  This is something we have not experienced in a long time.

A Few Thoughts on Tapping

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Thanks to Les for pulling this piece together.  For us at OSU, this is especially timely as we are tapping the OSU-Mansfield woods on Monday, February 10.  A faithful core will be in the woods helping, but we always have additional folks who want to learn and will be tapping for the first time.  Take these steps to heart.

Tapping a maple tree – how hard can it be?  Drill a hole, drive in a spout and hook up tubing or hang a bag/bucket.  Not rocket science, right?  No, it’s not rocket science, but it is also not a task to turn over to a novice.  Tapping, of all the activities that lead to a maple season full of sap, is the single most crucial task of the year.

When you put together a tapping crew, that crew must be comprised of trained individuals. Each step in the tapping procedure needs to be thoroughly explained and rehearsed.  Here are 10 steps to successful tapping:

  1. Observe the tree. Look for damaged areas in the trunk and the crown.  Avoid tapping into areas below the injury.  If it snows, I want to see tracks around encircling the tree.  This indicates that the person tapping has studied the tree, identified last year’s taphole, and has taken the time to tap into conductive wood.
  2. Pay attention to the color of taphole shavings evacuated by the bit. White equals conductive wood and brown is non-conductive dead wood.  Know the difference.
  3. Tap with a sharp drill bit that is designed for drilling trees not steel.
  4. Handle the tapping drill properly by holding with both hands to maintain complete control of the drill. Look down to ensure good footing, and do not try to stretch on your tip toes to gain excessive height as that will cause you to lose control.
  5. Find your new mark between 2-4 inches to the side and 6 or so inches above or below an old tap hole. Doing so will drastically increase the chances of hitting conductive wood.
  6. Drill straight in. No wobbles. 1.5 inches deep and certainly no more than 2 inches deep.
  7. Drive the spout with a proper tool. Ball-peen and framing hammers should be left in the toolbox.  Choose a light tapping hammer made of plastic or wood.
  8. Seat the spout so that it is snug. Over-drive the spout and you will lose sap production.  Under-drive and your taps may leak.  You should hear a tone change in sound coming from the hammer when you have achieved the proper depth.
  9. If you have several workers who are new to tapping, purchasing a “Precision Tapper” makes tapping easy for beginners. At the end of a long day, even old pros might be reaching for a Precision tool.
  10. Remember when you tap, you only have one opportunity to get it right the first time.

Follow these 10 suggestions and you will be well on your way to making a half gallon of syrup per tap.

Ohio’s 2024 Drought & Next Year’s Maple Season

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Ohio is part of a severe drought that has affected many states east of the Mississippi and is experiencing what many Western states have had to live with for years.  This is all part of the seemingly endless series of weather events that stem from changing climate.  Of major concern to maple producers is the effect this drought will have on maple syrup production during the 2025 season.  Let’s look at the current U.S. Drought Monitor map.

As you can see the extreme and exceptional drought ratings are in southeastern Ohio, and an even larger portion of the state is categorized in the Abnormally Dry to Moderately dry conditions. One saving grace is that the one area currently unaffected is a portion of northeastern Ohio that includes Geauga County and most of its adjacent neighbors.  From experience in the 1988 drought, conditions can change very quickly; however, autumn is a bad time for a drought because you tend to go into winter with lower subsoil moisture reserves. How might all of this affect maple production?

Rather than paraphrasing a brief article by Dr. Timothy Perkins written at the time of the 2022 drought, I will simply quote his thoughts on how drought affects sap flow.

Sap flow is more dependent on soil moisture during the spring itself…so snowmelt and rain during the spring are quite important. However, there seems to be a couple of impacts on sap sugar content and tree growth. Think of leaves as the engine of the tree. The fuel is sunlight. But in order for that engine to run at peak levels, everything else needs to be operating correctly. If soil moisture is lacking, stomates in the leaves close, so carbon dioxide cannot enter the leaves and be “fixed” into sugars. So, drought reduces photosynthetic carbon gain (production of sugars), resulting in reduced growth and less storage or sugars in that ring of wood formed during that time. Fortunately, the sugar we collect as maple producers in sap comes from many tree rings (20-30 depending on tree growth rate and taphole depth), but the outermost tree rings tend to be the most productive (more sugar and higher hydraulic conductivity…meaning the younger pipes/vessels work better), so there can be some small reduction in sap sugar content due to drought. This is more apparent when we have several years of drought in a row.

From personal experience, I would be more concerned with this drought if it extends and expands into the winter. Winter snow accumulation has a major impact on recharging the subsoil and sap flow, and subsoil moisture is everything when it comes to sap production.


Photo courtesy of Bret Kaufmann

As Dr. Tim pointed out the greatest impact is from extended drought that lasts more than a few months or even multiple years.  What the producer is looking at is an above and below ground response to the drought.  During a drought the air temperatures increase, and winds also often increase.  This accelerates evapo-transpiration through the leaves, causing the leaves to dry out.  At the root level, the fibrous hairs on the roots are lost thereby reducing the amount of water flowing through the roots into the tree and up to the leaves.  One of the first things a producer will notice is the leaves drying out and in some cases dropping early.  This can also trigger dieback in the canopy, but many things can cause maple dieback.  In the first year of drought, this is normal and not a major concern.  If the event prolongs however, producers might want to cut back on tapping in multi-year droughts.  This could be nothing more than restricting tapping to one tap per tree, or in extreme cases, the producer might want to skip tapping a sugarbush in the spring of a drought’s second year.  An additional concern during any drought is heightened fire hazard risk.

In the near term, should producers consider not tapping a sugarbush that has been through some of the state’s most severe drought?  This will depend on how long the dry condition lasts and what the soil moisture looks like as we go into spring.  A lot can happen between now and the tapping season.  Heavy rains could change everything, and everything depends on the next several months’ weather going into next season.  One thing to consider is that our maple seasons are coming earlier than the historic norm; another earlier season will cut down on the amount of time the trees will have to recover from this most recent drought – if and when it breaks.  At this point, it is likely a wait and see situation.

Succession Planning

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Hanging on the walls of the Geauga County Extension Office are photographs of the Geauga County Maple Hall of Fame inductees.  Many are producers who have passed on.  The sad truth is that very few of those sugarbushes are still operating today.  There are stories to tell but no one to tell them. The maple heritage is slowly being lost.  What will happen to your maple sugaring operation when you are no longer able to run the operation?  For many the answer is simple – one of my family members is waiting in the wings to take over.  For others it is far more complex.  Will the operation be viable enough for someone outside the family to take over?  Whoever steps in to fill empty shoes, is there someone to guide that person along the way?  Succession planning can help smooth the road for a successful transition.

Economic viability is one of the biggest challenges a sugaring operator faces.  Today, the economics of agricultural production seems to be working against the small producer.  At one time, this was a statement that really did not apply to maple production.  Maple seemed to be isolated from the production and marketing pressures of other crops.  It was highly specialized and for the most part produced on a small scale of family farms.  Today, even though the retail price and the demand for maple products is on the upswing, it is getting increasingly difficult to cover expenses and make a profit.

My concern, is for the new producer, trying to break into the business.  When you look at the risks involved in running a maple operation, they are increasing with every passing year.  Based on UVM Benchmark Studies, the best chance for success starting out should be with 5000 taps and up.  The average investment for a 5000-tap operation is 36.00 per tap (UVM Benchmark study, 2020); that includes tubing and processing equipment and the sugarhouse.  If you assume the operator has done his homework, and his operation is running efficiently, the average yield per tap will be approximately 1/2 gallon of syrup per tap on a good year.  Unfortunately, not every year is a good year.  Again, with increasing input costs, can a new producer survive in today’s economy?

The maple industry, just like the rest of agriculture, is aging.  Older agricultural producers are dropping out because they can no longer run the business and no one in their family who wants to take over.  Farms are rented or sold to larger corporate farming operations.  One thing I have noticed that is different in maple syrup production – there are a significant number of young folks who have a strong desire to make syrup, especially if given an opportunity to work into an existing operation.  Assuming these connections can be made, the question the existing owner needs to ask is this – is it better to give up partial control today or watch the business disappear forever tomorrow?  Sooner or later, it will be time to let the next generation take over and pass the operation on to someone who will value it as much as you have.  I know young producers who have done well with the transitional challenges of stepping into an existing operation; however, I can also point to examples where the spark fizzled and the operation’s fate was only temporarily delayed.

Again, I would reiterate that very few sugarmakers want to deal with or accept the reality of transition, but it is inevitable as the clock winds.  Ask yourself these questions?  How long do I want to continue sugaring?  How long can I continue sugaring?  Am I setting up whoever is next in line for success?  Am I making a good reputation for small and local producers?  What can I do to get young producers involved in maple sugaring?  Do I have a plan for what’s next?  Is my plan in writing or just in my head?  If your desire is to keep your sugarbush operating, now is the time to sit down and plan a transition to the next generation and cement your legacy.

For more information on Succession Planning, contact your local Extension office to learn more or look for an OSU Succession Planning Workshop near you.

We’re Back!! NASS Maple Survey

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Several weeks ago, I received a phone call from a USDA Crop Survey NASS representative; NASS standing for the National Agricultural Statistics Service.  During the conversation, he asked if I made maple syrup.  I was very surprised to find out that NASS was once again conducting the annual Maple Syrup Production survey in Ohio.  We have not been included in the maple survey since 2019.  At the time, it was the opinion of the USDA that Ohio did not produce enough syrup to be included in the survey, in addition to 6 additional states that got lopped.  However, 5 years later we are back on the survey agenda.

Why did this happen?  I think it was due to the Buckeye State’s good showing in the 2022 Census of Agriculture.  I want to thank our producers who took the time to fill out the Census Survey.  I think the information that our producers sent to NASS was the number one reason that Ohio is back on the list of NASS-recognized maple producing states.  We showed improvement in almost all categories.  Over the last 5 years, Ohio has also been the recipient of two ACER Grants with a good majority of the research being done at the OSU-Mansfield Maple Research Facility.  The Ohio State University is now one of the few universities where maple syrup research is being conducted.  This may also have played a role in the decision.

Why is this important for those working in maple research and education?  A good source of statistical data is vital when presenting programs and writing articles about the Ohio Maple Industry.  Without numbers, we are just making educated guesses that rest on assumptions or making the leap of using data from other states and hoping that they also apply to our state.  Both approaches can be problematic.  That is not good enough when you are writing educational articles or doing research.

The International Maple Syrup Institute’s special NASS Survey Committee worked hard to improve the USDA NASS Annual survey and make it easier for producers to fill out.  The Committee was made up of representatives from many of the northeastern maple producing states and the USDA.  Ohio was the western most state on the committee.  They listened to what we had to say and that helped immensely.  My parting request to Ohio producers is to continue filling out the maple surveys.  We need your cooperation to stay in the system.  As always, the information you send is private and will not be given out to any other group or agency.  Thank you once again for your support!

~ Les Ober

2024 Maple Season Summary

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Thanks to Les for his take on the 2024 maple season. 

If you are an Ohio Maple Syrup Producer, how would you describe your 2024 maple season in one word? Early, different, weird, disappointing, average, surprising, long, short, exhausting, and the list goes on – perhaps even some words that cannot be printed here.  Many local producers experienced the earliest start in the history of their sugarbush.  This was followed by the earliest shutdown in the history of their sugarbush.  Early tappers (NEW YEAR’S DAY!) were the fortunate ones, producing three quarters to a full season crop.  There were some hardcore traditional sugarmakers that like to go by the calendar; it was a one run and done for them.

From a metrological viewpoint, this was as close to a record winter as you can get, and we are not talking about cold.  The climatological Winter – December, January, and February – was the warmest since 1931.  By month, December was the third warmest on record.  January was close to average except for the lack of snowfall.  You need melting snow to keep moisture in the ground, and sap flowing from the trees.  February was one of the warmest on record.  This was all predicted in NOAA’s three month forecast back in December 2023.  If you are a maple producer, it was fairly clear.  You were warned.  Waiting until the first week of February to tap was not a good move, but it was better than waiting until President’s Day or when the Moon was right or because Grandpa always tapped that weekend.  The middle of January saw the only extended cold period, but after that, it was game on.  Those that tapped in early January were ready to harvest the big runs that came at the end of month and into February.  This gave the early birds a running start at an average to above average season.  The downside was low sugar content in the sap.  Despite getting record volumes of early sap, the sap to syrup ratios were dismal.  50-60 to 1 ratios were common and widespread.

This is a very lighthearted overview of a very challenging year.  On the positive side, producers made some very good syrup that did not have quality issues.  Officials at the Geauga County Maple Festival Contest reported, “The overall grade color was darker than last year.  Flavor was decent and was representative of the color.  In a year like this with an abundance of warm weather, you would expect some off-flavor syrup to show up in the contest, but that was not case.”  Thanks to adequate crop being produced in Northern New England, there will be no shortage of maple syrup for US markets.

When you have higher than average seasonal temperatures, it is far more likely that off flavors will appear.  I have noticed that it is not uncommon to make Amber and even Golden syrup with an off flavor at the very end of the season.  The off flavor is the product of sour sap, or possibly buddy sap.  Most off-flavor issues are the result of warm weather leading to a massive buildup of microbes in the sap.  An indication of this quality breakdown is rust colored niter in your filter press that is very hard to filter out. Ignored, conditions will go to slime and end up as ropy syrup.  This is caused by bacteria in the families Bacillus and Micrococcus.

Now comes the real challenge!  How do we prevent the possibility of this poor-quality product from entering the market in a year when a large percentage of producers may be facing a shortage of syrup for their customers?  Do you bottle the syrup and hope no one notices?  After all it may have good color. The rationale of the past was that most customers would not pick up on the off flavor.  After all, they are used to high fructose corn syrup imitations.  The answer is clear – never compromise the quality of the syrup you sell.  Quality should always be the trademark of your maple operation.

In the end, what have we learn?  We added one more year to the string of abnormally warm maple seasons that we have experienced over the last 5 years.  Ohio producers need to be ready to tap earlier than they have in the past.  If you are an experienced maple producer, you know when the time is right.   This means that in 2025, when New Year’s Day rolls around, you may need to cut the party short and head to the woods.  In fact, it is not a bad idea to be ready before Christmas.  This is not a recommendation to tap in December, just an admonition to be ready.

Is February the New March?

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Remember when Les said he would come back at the season’s conclusion to tell you in 20/20 hindsight exactly what you may already suspect, he’s back to make some sense of the 2024 sugaring season!  Enjoy.

The Ohio maple syrup season ended on the first weekend in March.  This comes less than a week after President’s Day, the traditional starting date for the season in Ohio.  Of course, not this year as many Ohio producers started the 2024 season in January.  If you are a maple producer, you must wonder if the climatologist and everything we have been hearing about our climate is right.  Is February becoming the new March?  

Let’s analyze what we have seen and experienced in 2024.  OSU Climatologist Dr. Aaron Wilson has been telling us that the winters will get milder, and Spring will come earlier.  Once again, I refer to historical weather data to make a point using Weather Underground weather history maps.  Dating back to 2021, here is what I consider a relatively normal March (below).

Here is February of this year, 2024 (below).

It has been reported over the last several months that we ended 2023 with almost record-breaking high temperatures for November and December.  In fact, the climatological winter (December, January, and February) was the third warmest on record.  The 2nd warmest occurred in 1931.  The warm weather sent a warning to many maple producers, alerting them that something unusual was about to happen.  In Ohio, those that tapped in mid-January got it right.  Those tapping right after the first of the year were rewarded with 6 to 8 weeks of maple producing weather.  Many recorded over 14 boils before the first of March.  This year undoubtedly sets a new benchmark for early tapping.  Why did this happen and what can we learn from the experience.

The winter of 2023/24 followed the long-range forecast’s prediction.  With the exception of the invasion of a cold air mass in mid-January, the mild temperatures came back and continued throughout February.  This set up some extraordinarily good runs throughout the state.  However, a troubling and confounding factor was the overall lack of moisture.  I would say that many parts of Ohio were below average on moisture during this period.  Dryness in the woods is not good for maple production.  It is much preferred to have 4 to 8 inches of slowly melting snow, at the very least, lots of rainy days interspersed through the season.  I have seen woods that face north where the snowpack will last almost to the end of March.  These woods have produced good runs all the way to the end of March and even into April.  Not this year.

Here is the graph (above) showing the high, low, and average temperatures for the first two weeks in March.  The important thing to look at here is the minimum and maximum temperatures that clearly show we not only had daytime temperatures in the first two weeks March above 50 degrees F, but also had nighttime temperatures that approached and even hit 50 degrees.  This totally wiped out the freeze/thaw cycle, and we all know you cannot make syrup without a freeze/thaw cycle.  Sustained temperatures above freezing will undoubtedly be a recurring problem into the future.  Warm temperatures also accelerates the accumulation of Growing Degree Days, pushing the trees toward budding.  However, buddy sap did not end the season in much of Ohio.  It was the acceleration of microbial growth resulting from an abundance of unseasonably warm temperatures causing the sap to warm and foul systems.  It is almost impossible to make quality syrup under these conditions.  During the Ohio Maple Tour, I tasted multiple samples of syrup made in early March.  Just about all had that sharp taste of syrup made from sour sap.

Now comes the real challenge!  How do we prevent the possibility of this very marginal syrup from entering the market?  Especially in a year when many producers in states like Ohio had a poor year and now have syrup of questionable quality to sell.  Do you bottle the syrup and hope no one notices?  After all, it may have good color somewhere between Amber and Dark Robust.  The rationale in the past has been that most customers will not pick up on the off flavor; after all, they are used to high fructose corn syrup imitations.  The question now turns becomes, how much high-quality syrup will be made in the Northeast and in Canada this year?  Will the syrup they sell to the big box stores have better quality than what our customers can buy locally?  We already know it will most likely be less expensive.

In the end what have we learn? We added one more year to the string of abnormally warm maple seasons that we have experienced over the last 5 years.  For Ohio producers tapped in January, many experienced a near normal season.  Operations made some very good syrup that did not have quality issues.  Their markets are covered.  This also means that in 2025 when New Years Day rolls around, those producers who gambled right in 2024 will again be ready to tap trees at the first signal of good sugaring weather.  Unfortunately for many Ohio producers tapping later in the calendar, this year will be a hard lesson.  Those that tapped after mid-February found out that you cannot trust Mother Nature, because she does not read the Calendar.

A Little Science behind Maple Sugaring Weather

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Hands down, the number one question that comes up this time of year is “When should I tap?”

Due to the warmest December on record, I have heard a few Ohioans even asking “Should I have tapped in December?”.  When you look back over the years, the trend has been toward earlier tapping dates, but hoping that you can keep taps open for 3+ months is a bit of a stretch.  There is no way that will happen on a gravity system, and you will need more than a little luck even on high vacuum.

The scientific approach to planning involves studying climatological data and developing a plan based on that data. The maps below are long range weather predictions for the next three months. You can clearly see that all indications point to above normal temperatures for the next three months. For sugar makers what does this mean?

To quote a good friend and fellow maple researcher, “when you look at forecasts you need to look at it from the big producer / small producer perspective.”  Because most small producers tap everything at one time, they need to consider the value of a good short-term, 30-day forecast.  In most cases, especially if you are on a gravity system, you need to find the best 30-day window that will allow you to make the most syrup.  Once you tap, you are on the clock and that clock runs out shortly after 30 days.  On the other hand, if you are a large producer or even a medium producer on vacuum, you need to study yearly trends.  Trends will disclose what has happened over the last 3 to 5 years.  What we have seen is a trend to earlier tapping just about every year.  In most cases, early tapping has paid off in Ohio.  A major reason is that newer technology lends itself to pushing the envelope when it comes to tapping.  You have the advantage of running a semi-closed vacuum system utilizing 24/7 operation.  This lengthens your season considerably.

One of the most valuable pieces of data you can use are temperature history graphs for your location.  Weather Underground has some of the best.  They plot the maximum, minimum, and average temperatures.  Plotting the maximum and minimum will give you a good idea on the number of freeze-thaw days to anticipate for a month.  As we all know, freeze-thaw cycles are very important and drive daily sap runs.  You can look at these cycles over a five or even ten year period.  Over time you begin to see how various weather patterns play out.

Keeping in mind these are zip code specific but we are talking at the broad scale of an entire state, here are three February graphs. You can clearly see we started February leaving a warm end to January on two out of the three graphs.  In all the graphs, conditions continued to warm up as February wore on.  In two out of the three, the temps dropped going into March.  This may be a hint for what could happen this year.  2020 and 2022 were almost normal.  In both cases, our records show average to above average production.  2021 was the outlier and production was down for that year as temperatures stayed warm through most of March.  The other two years highlight the fact that starting out February warm does not mean you will march into March warm.

Too much science?  Here is a more common sense approach that prioritizes the size of your operation.  If you are tapping thousands of taps, you must start early to get the job done.  For a moment, think about a huge 50,000-tap operation.  Should they consider tapping right after the first of the year?  Definitely!  One of their strategies is to tap 5,000 taps super early.  This results in the Facebook posts you may have seen bragging about syrup being made over Christmas.  Several big producers in the East did this in December.  Does that mean they tapped everything?  Most likely not.  A large commercial producer hedges their season by tapping some early and the rest over the month of January with everything in the tree and ready by February 1.  Small producers who are setup to boil early can also do this, the only difference is they may start tapping their early running trees shortly after New Year’s but plan to finish out in February.  This keeps fresh taps in the system and prevents you from putting all your eggs in one basket.  The best way to accomplish this is to keep very good records.

That brings us back to our initial question.  When should I tap this year?  All indications are that we are going to have a warmer than normal winter.  If you are in Southern Ohio, you might be tapped already.  North of I-70, you should probably hold back until the end of January.  This is where analyzing the 30-day forecast is critical.  Studying several long-range forecasts a little closer, I noticed that we may have some of the coldest weather of the winter on the last week of January and the first week of February.  While the forecast is showing a warming trend coming off several weeks of genuine cold weather, depending on your situation you may even want to hold off until the first week of February.

Of course, the joker in the deck is the El Nino weather event we are experiencing.  El Nino’s are known for extremes and all it takes is a bend in the jet stream and you could be looking at 10 more days of below average weather.  Once this happens, you usually go right back to the warmer than normal pattern.  In this case, cold weather is your friend.  What we do not want is 10 days straight above normal!

As for my prediction!  I will tell you what kind of season we had in 2024 on the first week in April.  May your sugar season be long and sweet.

Ohio 2023 Season Summary – “A Tale of Two Halves of Ohio”

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I think everyone would agree the 2023 maple season was anything but normal.  It started with a fierce snowstorm in late December and ended with a chaotic mixture of warm and cold days.  If you are an Ohio maple syrup producer, how your season went seems to be a matter of location, location, location.  This winter was either too warm, too cold, or just right.  Depending on where you live and when you tapped, it was either all good or all bad.  Once again, Mother Nature had the final say.

The season kicked off early despite a surge of extremely cold weather at Christmas time, but warm weather arrived shortly after New Year’s.  The one thing Ohio producers have learned, when it looks and feels like tapping weather, you tap.  This year, many producers – I can confidently say more producers than normal – in both Northern and Southern Ohio started tapping in January.  Those tapping in early January experienced strong runs going into February, but many early tappers saw sap flow slow or completely shut off going into March.  The weather in February largely determined the success of your season.

Southern Ohio producers saw sap flow and sap quality end by the first week of March at the latest, many producers didn’t even make it out of February.  The jet stream kept the cold air pushed north, but abnormally warm temperatures plagued the southern part of the state.  More northern producers had strong sap runs into St. Patrick’s Day and beyond.  For the calendar tappers who traditionally waited until mid-February to tap, the season was average at best.  Overall, it was “ A Tale of Two Cities.”  Some northern Ohio producers experienced one of the best seasons in recent decades, but many southern producers experienced one of the worst production seasons in recent memory.

For producers who will associate the 2023 season with more positive memories, syrup quality held up remarkably well despite a season with so much variability.  Ohio made lots of Golden Delicate and Amber grade syrup.  The flavor was excellent for the most part until the warm weather ended the season.  Even then, a lot of lighter grade syrup was made right up until the last boil.  The biggest problem was filtering, excessive niter made it very difficult to filter and that high niter was reported from many producers statewide.  One of the reasons for outstanding yields was the good sugar content of the sap, averaging close to 2%.  Once again, the best yields were achieved on high vacuum tubing systems, but many bucket/bag producers had a good season as well.

Maple syrup is made all over the Buckeye State, but Geauga County is the number one maple syrup producing county in Ohio.  This year, the county lived up to its reputation in a big way, and production records were set across the county.  It was not uncommon to see syrup yields hitting or exceeding a half gallon per tap being produced.