Maple Events on the Horizon

Join Associate Professor, Dr. Stephen Matthews to learn about USDA Forest Service’s Climate Change Atlas.  He will introduce this tool that is based on over 2 decades of research with a goal to help us understand the impact of climate change on our trees. When you have heard us talk about red maple’s favorable position in the face of an uncertain future, the work of the Climate Change Atlas is what we are drawing from.  Register for the April 12th webinar HERE.

Future Generations University is offering a webinar this Thursday evening, March 21st at 7 PM.  The Appalachian-based program Out of the Woods hosts guest speaker Dr. Catherine Belisle (Cornell University) and Lindsay Kazarick (Future Generations University) to discuss maple confections and event-based marketing. REGISTER here.

Here’s a little bonus video to enjoy featuring Cornell University’s Arnot Teaching and Research Forest in New York.

SAVE THE DATE for 2024’s Ohio Maple Days – December 7.  We will be shifting locations this year due to a scheduling conflict at our normal venue at Ashland University.  You can look forward to this year’s Ohio Maple Days landing at Wooster’s Secrest Arboretum.

And speaking of events, we hope everyone got to participate in Ohio’s Maple Madness Tour.  Whether by opening up your own operation to visitors or by venturing out on the tour yourself, Maple Madness is a signature springtime event that should not be missed.  We hosted somewhere just shy of 100 folks throughout Saturday, March 2nd at the Ohio State Mansfield campus.  Thanks to all who came, and a BIG THANKS to everyone who led tours of the wetlands, sugarbush, and kept the evaporator steaming all day long.

 

Ohio Maple Day – Weekend Recap

Ohio Maple Days was a great success again this early December with a wonderful slate of speakers and solid growth over last year’s attendance.  But before we get to Saturday’s main event, there was a lot of excitement that cannot be overlooked from that Friday.

On Friday afternoon, over 30 people participated in an exceptional value-added maple products workshop in Ashland University’s state-of-the-art teaching kitchen.  Several maple producers – namely Galen Smith, Dan Brown, Jen Freeman, and Fred Ahrens – demonstrated how to make delicious (and yes there was PLENTY of taste testing!) maple candy, maple cream, maple sugar, and maple cotton candy.  Contributions from numerous others behind the scenes must be acknowledged, and I even got to participate by contributing a maple venison breakfast sausage link exhibition at the end.  All participants left full of good bites to eat and full of knowledge, tips and tricks to either get into the value-added products game or improve their already developed skill set.  It is always so much fun to participate in a workshop where the speakers, as well as many of the attendees, are interacting back-and-forth with one another from beginning to end.

Friday evening’s main event was spearheaded by the Ohio Maple Producer’s Association – “One Sweet Gathering.”  Raffles and trivia night carried the audience through lots of maple-themed questions and more participants than not left with one or multiple prizes.  This event has become one of my favorite as it affords us an opportunity to interact with everyone in a low stakes environment – there is no agenda that has to be accomplished, no itinerary that is dependent on staying on time.  Lots of great conversation, laughs, and of course excellent food and drinks carried the night, and OMPA was able to raise a substantial sum for the OSU maple research program – an extremely generous gesture to push for more and better work on their behalf!  Thanks!!

For Saturday’s main event, Aaron Wilson – Buckeye Universe’s State Climatologist – keynoted with an excellent hour-long talk discussing the implications of El Nino’s resurgence on sugarmakers.  Regulatory updates and labeling requirements from Ohio Dept. of Agriculture, the latest on spotted lanternfly, and a primer on tubing and vacuum systems from Mike Lynch of CDL rounded out the morning’s agenda.

The chefs at Ashland University continue to outdo themselves and offered up yet another showstopper of a lunch.  As entrees and desserts were enjoyed, Roger & Suzie Gortner and Paul Snavely from the Snavely Sugar Shack were overwhelmed by congratulations on receiving the Charles Keiter Award.

Saturday afternoon offered a split agenda with a Beginner or Advanced track.  Spot checking attendance in each, most talks were roughly half and half throughout the final sessions.  One highlight for us was sharing the Sugarhouse Videos created at Gingerich Brothers & Sperry LLC, Seldom Seen Farms, and Double G Maple.  Those short videos will be featured in the digital Maple Toolbox which is almost completed and will be available soon.  Other Advanced talks focused on NRCS cost-share programs for enhanced sugarmaking sustainability, crop tree management in a sugarbush, and coupling gourmet mushroom cultivation with your maple woods.  The Beginner track started in the obvious place – how to identify different maple species, and it then progressed through different sap collection methods, a crash course on evaporators and reverse osmosis, before concluding with economic and enterprise planning.

Last but certainly not least, I have to give a shout out to Galen Smith for leading a team of folks to host the John Berry Memorial Syrup Contest.  Bruce Kavanagh took first in the Delicate class, Goodell Family Farms for Amber, and Aggie from Gingerich Brothers & Sperry led the Robust class.  The Dick Schoor Award for best syrup from a new or small producer was awarded to Bruce Kavanagh, and the Hilton Farly Award was won by Aggie Sperry.

We hope you can join us next year (actually this year…Happy New Year!) on December 6 for the 2024 edition of Ohio Maple Days!  SAVE THE DATE!!

Ask Santa for a New…Hydrometer!!

This year’s Ohio Maple Days welcomed back the free hydrometer testing service that folks had come to expect from Dr. Gary Graham’s days of leading the annual Ohio maple event.

As part of the tri-state (OH – WV – PA) ACER grant, we built out at least 1 full hydrometer testing kit for each state to ensure accurate hydrometers are in the hands of maple producers in order to produce top-quality maple syrup.  A big thanks to Carri Jagger for leading the charge on this initiative, we figured that she and I tested somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-90 hydrometers during Saturday’s program.  These are rough estimates, but I would guess around half the hydrometers tested within +/- 0.2 Brix of perfect.  1 out of every 10 hydrometers read heavier densities than they should have, and the remainder – close to 3 or 4 out of every 10 – read light compared to the standard.

For a bit more complete explanation and how to make sense of the Hydrometer Testing Bookmarks, let’s explore a couple scenarios.

The first scenario is that your hydrometer reads the exact same as our standard testing hydrometer.  This bookmark shows a best case scenario and this is exactly what that means.  We chose to test everyone’s hydrometer against a test solution of 60.0 Brix.  In other words, we mixed a test solution to read 60.0 Brix on our standard hydrometer and checked everyone else’s instrument against the truth of that standard.  Choosing 60.0 Brix as the test line is somewhat arbitrary, we could have chosen 62.0 or 64.0 or 65.7 if we were really feeling inspired.  The bottom line is that within a certain range, an inch is an inch, and if your ruler is really truly measuring 24″ where it says 24″, the same ruler should also be spot on when measuring something 30″ long as well.  The same concept applies here.  Known density is 60.0, your hydrometer reads 60.0, and your glass, paper scale, and hydrometer is in great condition.

Heavy Syrup LLC and Wimpy Syrup & Co. are both less than ideal hydrometer testing scenarios.

Wimpy Syrup & Co.’s hydrometer is reading heavy even though their hydrometer is in good condition from a wear and tear perspective.  The effect of having a hydrometer that reads heavy is that you’ll likely be producing syrup on the underside of optimal density.  In other words, you’ll pull your syrup off early because of the heavy reading and may not finish all the way up at the perfection standard of 66.9 Brix.

Heavy Syrup LLC has the opposite issue.  Because their hydrometer is reading light, syrup will probably get left on the evaporator a tad long and finish at a higher density than the industry standard.  Hence, we can see that the directional error in hydrometer reading leads to syrup that finishes in the opposite direction.  A heavier reading than truth leads to lighter syrup. Lighter readings lead to heavier syrup.  The additional issue with Heavy Syrup LLC’s hydrometer is that the paper scale has become twisted, likely as a result of a glue dot detaching, eliminating any hope of accurate density readings in the future.  Throw that hydrometer away.

Hopefully this post sheds some light on why hydrometer testing is important.  A big thanks to all the producers who brought one or two or five hydrometers to be tested.  We will plan to offer the same service at Ohio Maple Days going forward and add a second testing beaker for sap hydrometers at next year’s event.  Syrup density is one of the key diagnostics to ensure we produce quality maple syrup and accurately reading density is an important skill as a sugarmaker.  If you have a hydrometer that you know is off, toss it in the garbage and ask Santa to put another in your stocking ASAP.

 

Lake Erie Maple Expo RECAP

Guest post by Carri Jagger, a MUCH appreciated piece of the Ohio State Maple puzzle!

On November 10th and 11th the Pennsylvania Maple Producers Association and the Northwestern FFA hosted the 2023 Lake Erie Maple Expo in Albion PA.  The Expo kicked off on Friday morning with a variety of sessions from beginning maple production, confections, and value-added products to tubing installation and vacuum.

I had the opportunity to attend the Advanced Tubing and Installation workshop on Friday that was taught by Steve Childs, retired maple specialist from Cornell University.  Steve taught us how to use the basal area angle gauge to estimate the potential number of taps per acre.

Steve also taught about evaluating your current maple tubing system to make sure that it is operating as efficiently as possible.  He shared the Cornell Maple Tubing and Vacuum System Notebook with the class.  You can view and print the notebook from the Cornell Maple Program Notebook Series Website.

On Saturday the conference resumed at the Albion High School where there were 4 concurrent sessions that covered 30 different topics.  I took the opportunity to attend the maple value-added track where I learned about using a glucose meter to check the invert sugar levels in maple syrup.  Determining invert sugar levels are important if you are planning on using your maple syrup for maple candy, sugar, cream and other confections.  If you would like to learn more about making maple confections check out the Cornell Maple Confections Notebook offered at the website above.

I also attended sessions about the distillation of maple and making beverages with maple.  Michigan State and Cornell are both doing extensive research about using late season maple and off flavor maple to distill into a marketable product.  Cornell has created recipes for several maple beverages and those can be found at the Cornell new product development site.

In addition to the conference there was also a trade show to visit with vendors about new and existing maple syrup equipment.  The conference was a great learning opportunity for both new and seasoned maple syrup producers.  The Lake Erie Maple Expo is always the second weekend in November and I encourage you to attend.

 

North American Maple – Massachusetts Recap

Just about this time a month ago, I was in the middle of the North American Maple Syrup Council’s International Conference hosted in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  To take a deep dive into maple syrup for a few days, it felt appropriate to surrounded by maples showing off their fall color and driving through towns with “Established By” dates in the 1600 and 1700s.

Thursday was tour day, and attendees had two different itineraries to choose from.  Although I had to miss out on the 3rd and 4th stops of the tour, the first 2 alone made the time worthwhile.  Maple Corner Farm generously opened its doors to their state-of-the-art new sugarhouse and restaurant/cross-country skiing outpost – they are a living testament to how revenue diversification can support a robust business plan.

The second stop to Ioka Valley Farm was equally impressive as they are one, if not the, largest maple producer in the state of Massachusetts.  The lunch they served up from their restaurant was excellent, and all the tour hosts were eager to answer questions and dialogue with anyone curious about their operations.

The early departure reason that cut my tour short was to be back for the maple specialists meeting that afternoon at 3 PM.  Climate change and how to adapt under those pressures was the topic of discussion, a fruitful one at that.  It is an honor to work alongside respected colleagues at other institutions to brainstorm research ideas that have practical why does it matter moxie.  Of all the topics covered, sugarbush management received the most attention and votes of priority.  What does that mean?  Building a house that does not blow away or shift off its foundation as tree health, vigor, recruitment and distribution are stressed in the future – in short, resilience.  Thursday was end capped with the Taste of Massachusetts banquet and great social exchanges between all who gathered.

Friday felt more like work as I was on the hook for a research presentation highlighting the last 3 years’ work on the red x silver maples and the single-tree canister work.  2-3 concurrent sessions carried the day, and dinner featured the maple contest awards, Hall of Fame inductee announcements, and more stimulating back-and-forth with fellow attendees.

If Friday’s presentations were more research focused, then Saturday’s talks could be characterized as more how-to and hands-on practical.  The quality of presenters was evident throughout, and it’s hard – having now been to one – imagining not attending every single one of these events that my schedule will allow into the future.

Welcome Jake!!

We are excited to introduce Jake Nicholson, Ohio State Extension’s new Maple-Christmas Tree hire, to the Ohio State Maple site community.  This non-timber forest products position has been a long-time in the making, and we are thrilled to welcome Jake to the team.  Jake is a former student, and personally speaking, I was excited to see his name in the hat and enthusiastically supportive of his hire.  Recently, I was able to spend a couple days with Jake at the North American Maple Syrup Council in Massachusetts, and I tossed 5 questions Jake’s direction; below are his replies.

Tell us about your background.  I know you pursued a major in natural resources – what was that exactly and what drew you to that career?

My first job was working at Camp Lakota, a local scout camp back home in northwest Ohio as a staff member when I was 15.  It became such a transformative experience for me, both in helping me to grow personally and in learning how much I loved being outdoors.  From there I was hooked, I wanted to learn about conservation, preservation, management, all of it; but most importantly I wanted to share that passion with as many people as I could.

Not to get too personal, but do you a significant other?  Kiddos?  Pets?  Both?

I am recently married to my wonderful wife Maria.  We have two pets, a goofy golden retriever named Ryder and a very friendly, but judgmental gray cat named Jasper.

What excites you most about maple?

Oh, so many things, to start with I absolutely love the community I have met so far. Everyone is so welcoming and willing to share what they know; their generosity is overwhelming, and I look forward to visiting more sugar shack and bushes soon.

What your favorite talk from the North American Maple Syrup Conference in Massachusetts?

The Best Practices in the Sugarhouse practical skill workshop was my favorite talk. As wonderful as all the talks I attended were, most focused on the big picture of sugarbush management. Glenn Goodrich did an amazing job of presenting actionable advice to make the best syrup possible once the sap is in the sugarhouse.

If there is one thing you want maple producers to know about you, what would it be?

As steeped in tradition as this industry is, it must be strange to have someone in my position who was not brought up within it. I want to assure all the maple producers of Ohio, big and small, that I am determined to get up to speed with the realities of modern sugaring. I am already taking steps to do that and am incredibly grateful for the way that so many of you have opened your sugar shacks to me and taught me about how you do what you do. I look forward to many more visits in the future and creating programs and resources to promote this industry to future generations.

Now that you’ve gotten to know him here, go out of your way to introduce yourself at Ohio Maple Days on December 8th and 9th up in Ashland.  If you still need to register, visit the link for Saturday’s main event and Friday night’s banquet social organized by the Ohio Maple Producers Association.  Friday’s confections workshop is already sold out and at capacity, but keep your eyes open for additional offerings on that topic in the future.

Welcome Jake!!

Tap Talk Webinar

This is super short notice, but Les Ober and Mike Rechlin are co-teaching a Taps, Spouts, and Spiles talk on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM.  All you need to do is click this ZOOM link to attend.

The presentation will summarize research on maple taps, spouts and spiles.  The webinar will then move to an open discussion on your experiences with the benefits and drawbacks of the various models on the market.  It is getting close to time to order your supply for the coming season, so this offering is well-timed.  Attend and see if you don’t learn a tidbit or two to coax a little more sap from each taphole this upcoming season.

U-Kentucky/Ohio State Partnership Event

Mixing Big 10 and SEC schools generally results in a brouhaha – not this time.  The University of Kentucky and Ohio State’s Maple team partnered to host a well-attended workshop last Monday evening just across the Ohio River in Boone County, Kentucky.  Strategically located to attract new and existing producers from southern Ohio and across Kentucky, 70 folks showed out for the event.  Beginning outdoors at the Boone County Nature Center, speakers covered topics ranging from maple identification to sustainable tapping practices and showcased demonstrations of different sap collection methods (buckets, bags, tubing) and a steaming boil on the local evaporator.


(Image Courtesy of University of Kentucky)

Along the way, attendees participated in a discussion of different grades and tastes of maple syrup profiled by a couple taste tests.  With a side-by-side comparison, many people were surprised just how different the same basic product – pure maple syrup – can taste.  That taste bud tease led us back to the Boone County Extension Center for a catered City BBQ meal and more presentations on value-added products, a couple short videos on sugarhouse design, and an excellent round of Q&A and conversations that lingered well after the event officially ended at 7 PM.

Many thanks to all who attended, and we look forward to continuing this partnership to expand the good news of maple across the southern tier!  To join up with your local community of maple producers, everyone should strongly consider joining their state association.  The Ohio Maple Producers Association annual event is Friday and Saturday, November 3-4th with Detailed Agenda here and a link to Register here.  The Kentucky Maple Syrup Association is also hosting their Maple School on Saturday, November 4th at the Berea Forestry Outreach Center and there is a button to join their ranks at the bottom of their webpage.

WV Maple Event Opportunity

Southern Ohioans have a great opportunity to slide across the Ohio River to join a wonderful maple event scheduled for October 14th in Wayne, West Virginia.  Just across the water from Lawrence County, OH, our partners at Future Generations University and West Virginia University are putting on a workshop titled “Forest Management for Sap Production: Why You Should ‘Think Maple’ .”

Lunch is provided and the workshop goes from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM and features sugarhouse and sugarbush tours at Tom’s Creek Maple.

Specific talk sessions are as follows:

  • Managing for sap production / Managing for timber production / or both!!
  • Sap collection systems
  • Managing a woodlot for sap production (hands-on and forestry tech talk heavy)
  • Integrating other forest farming activities into your sugaring operation
  • Forest health threats to maple
  • Technical resources through the OH/WV Maple Toolbox

Slots can be reserved by emailing syrup@future.edu.  Don’t miss out on a great learning opportunity to learn from syrupmakers in the far southern tier of what Ohio producers can expect to encounter in maple sugaring.

PA Maple Boot Camp Recap

Maple Boot Camp rotated over to Pennsylvania for 2023 after we hosted it last year in ’22.  The agenda delivered a wealth of information to 20+ lucky attendees who came from backgrounds of “I’ve never tapped a tree before” to “I’m looking to expand into that medium-large producer category.”  Speakers from Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania served to make Boot Camp a huge success – a special thanks to Mike Lynch of Baer Brothers Maple for hosting the in-field workshops in his sugarbush and sugarhouse.

Kate Fotos, Les Ober, and Mike Rechlin taught a maple grading seminar to attendees who elected to show up early for a pre-Boot Camp workshop.  Day 1 covered discussions of tree identification,  site and woods evaluation, sugarbush inventory, and tree health assessments, and spanned indoor sessions with outdoor hands-on lab time.  After a wonderful catered dinner, Steve Childs tackled night one of value-added maple products and demonstrated maple sugar and maple cotton candy.  Here is a link to the New York State Maple Confections Notebook that is a testament and legacy to his lasting impact on the maple industry across the region.

Day 2 kicked off with a flipped itinerary to accommodate weather conditions that were less than favorable.  Kudos to everyone’s flexibility and Scott Weikert’s boldness to turn the agenda on its head.  It is hard to imagine the day going much better than it did!  While night two of maple confections featured maple cream and maple candies back in the meeting event space, the vast majority of the day took place in the sugarbush at Baer Brothers Maple.  Sap collection methods and detailed demonstrations of installing and maintaining main line, lateral line, and drop and spout configurations filled the morning.  After a bagged lunch, best practices related to tapping and sanitation practices took center stage.  Semi-structured lectures interspersed with lots of hands-on demonstrations and opportunities for workshop attendees to try their own hands at different skills and techniques carried the day.

While I was not able to stick around for the third and final day, everyone once again caravaned out to Mike’s sugarhouse to see his reverse osmosis and evaporator set-up.  This is such an important component of workshops, but due to time of year, sometimes gets the short end of the stick.  Not this time.  Mike had his system primed with water to get all the steam and the burn which takes an off-season experience to the next level.  Attendees were lucky to enjoy an afternoon closing session on financial planning, operation economics, sales and marketing from one of the best in the industry – Mark Cannella from UVM.

Planning for Maple Boot Camp version West Virginia is already afoot for 2024 – as details begin to fall into place, you can be sure we will share all of the relevant details!