UVM

Not Just Sugar Maples – Part II

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Ohio Maple Days 2022 did not disappoint.  The food was fantastic, the vendor room crowded, and the presenters shared a wealth of knowledge of expertise across a wide range of subjects.  I was among those speakers, and Abby van den Berg and I presented a pair of talks that focused on those other maples.  Last week I shared a quick rundown of 20 short statements that summarize the Ohio work we have done from a high bird’s-eye viewpoint.  This week, we’ll check out Abby’s perspective from Vermont which focused on 4 central questions regarding red maples.  Before we get into it, be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s conference December 8th and 9th!

Abby van den Berg asked and attempted to answer 4 main questions of red maple.

  • Red maple, Are you as sweet as sugar maples?
  • Red maple, Do you have lower yields than sugar maples?
  • Red maple, Do you slow or stop running earlier than sugar maples?
  • Red maple, Does your sap make inferior or different-tasting syrup than sugar maples?

My main disclaimer, and one that I know Abby would echo, is that the answers she provided are pertinent and specific to a single research study in Vermont.  All of the answers should not be directly applied to Ohio, but there is certainly LOTS to learn and consider.  Why?  Well, Vermont is not Ohio, and this research is on reds and we have mystery maples.  So for a host of reasons – please learn from this incredibly interesting study, but do not directly project these results into your own woods.

First – Red Maple, Are you as sweet as sugar maples?  The answer here is not a surprise, the answer is “no.”  Abby’s data was “very crude” by her own words, but Brix analysis shows that red maples track 0.2-03 Brix beneath sugar maples most of the season.  This is supported by our Ohio study and consistent with patterns we have observed.

Second – Red Maple, Do you have lower yields than sugar maples?  From the perspective of statistical difference, no – red maples do NOT have lower production potential than sugar maples.  In the Vermont studies, heavy sap flow counterbalanced the slightly lower Brix levels to result in similar production outputs between red and sugar maples.  Does this mean they are identical or equal?  Not necessarily, but per the study design, they are not different.

Third – Red Maple, Do you slow or stop running earlier than sugar maples?   No.  The Vermont study produced no evidence that red maples slow down earlier than sugar maples.  Is this consistent with our Ohio results?  No.  Why?  We have some guesses and some hypotheses we’ve discussed, but this potential difference will be one to focus on as we learn more and more about these systems.

Fourth – Red Maple, Does your sap make inferior or different-tasting syrup than sugar maples?  A tasting experiment pitted red maple syrup (top row) against sugar maple syrup (bottom row) that was produced by trees in the same woods with the same methods at the same time under similar conditions as tightly controlled and identical as humanly possible.  Late-season syrup was deemed similar with respondents not able to differentiate between the 2 syrups.  Early-season syrup however did produce detectable differences in taste and profile.  Further research is ongoing to trace potential differences back to a source – was it a difference  in carbohydrates or invert levels, volatile aroma or flavor compounds?  Abby was not totally sure just yet, but I am sure we will find out what she discovers.  The most important finding here is that red maple syrup did not produce detectable late-season off-flavors as that is a common suspicion among maple producers.

You can read more about these results in the following article and recorded webinar:

Red Maple as Crop Trees for Maple Syrup Production

 

Getting Down to the Business of It All

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Mark Cannella, Farm Business Management Specialist for University of Vermont Extension, ventured down to the Buckeye State to kick off our Ohio Maple Days weekend on Friday, December 9th.  Mark’s half-day seminar helped nearly 20 maple producers give serious consideration to their maple business plan.  From modules on strategic planning to marketing to managing finances and calculating true profitability, group discussions and active work sessions engaged participants.

No matter the scale of a single maple operation, our commodity market is determined by a host of macro factors that are sometimes easy to observe but as often are difficult to suss out.  At the level of the single operator, those macro factors mingle with local variables to produce a host of challenges and opportunities that vary year-to-year and even within a single season.

Participating operators asked hard questions that forced good conversations – conversations that sometimes ended in relatively clear answers, other questions that resulted in more…well, questions.

“How do I transition from a hobby to a business that can support my whole family?”

“Should I make that change truly believing it will be good for my family business in 2 generations future?”

“How can I better care for my trees?”

“How do I balance the need for equipment upgrades with the challenge of having enough labor to increase my number of taps?”

“How do I juggle maple and the rest of my responsibilities?”

These questions and more provided excellent fodder to stimulate 4+ hours of lively discussion.  Thanks to Mark for bringing his business planning expertise to Ohio!

Additional online business planning tools can be found at www.maplemanager.org.

Online Maple Business Planning Courses Available

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University of Vermont is offering two online short courses for current and prospective maple producers this fall.  Each course includes four classes (1.5 hours each), once per week, in addition to assignments that get participants completing real time analysis and making immediate decisions to enhance their business.  Mark Cannella, Extension Associate Professor, will instruct both courses.  Registration is now open!

  • Maple Business Planning  This four-session course guides participants through key aspects of preparing a business plan. Each session covers concepts in strategic planning, analyzing risks, marketing and planning improvements. Students prepare sections of their own plan over the four-week timeframe of the course. Register Here for Maple Business Planning. Course Dates: 7:00 – 8:30 EST pm EST on Tuesdays: 10/26, 11/2, 11/9 and 11/16.

 

  • Maple Financial Planning  This four-session course guides participants through the basics of financial statements and financial planning concepts. Topics included cash flow, balance sheets, sales forecasting and calculating cost-of-production. The goal of this course is to identify important numbers and where to find them in order to make powerful decisions for your business.  Register Here for Maple Financial Planning. Course Dates: 7:00 – 8:30 EST pm EST on Thursdays: 10/28, 11/4, 11/11 and 11/18.

Sap Yields: Why CODIT and Non-Conductive Wood Matter

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CODIT stands for Compartmentalization of Decay in Trees, and sugar maples are darn good at CODIT!  Mark Isselhardt, during the 2021 virtual Ohio Society of American Foresters spring meeting, gave an excellent microscopic and physiological explanation of how maple trees wall off and seal up old tapholes.

Why does understanding compartmentalization matter to a maple producer?  Compartmentalization creates the all-important non-conductive wood that sugarmakers try to avoid with each year’s new taphole.  And just in case you were wondering – how much does it matter?  Through work conducted at University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center, Mark Isselhardt document sap yield declines of 70-75% when a taphole intersects non-conductive wood.