Vt. syrup producers boasting large yield

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Vermont’s maple syrup producers say this year’s crop is one of the largest of the past decade.

Vermont produced 500,000 gallons of syrup, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Production is up 19 percent compared to last season, when Vermont produced 420,000 gallons, according to the USDA.

“This year was certainly an excellent year in Vermont and throughout the Northeast, both in terms of flavor and color,” said Tim Perkins, director of the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center in Underhill.

In the past 10 years, maple production has met or exceeded 500,000 gallons only in 1996 and 2002.

Favorable weather, new technology and expanding operations raised the yield, Perkins said.

According to the USDA report, production came from 2.1 million taps, up from 2.03 million in 2003.

Many suspect the USDA numbers are underreported and production might be higher. The USDA relies on producers to report to the government, and many don’t want to do the paperwork, said Jacques Couture of Westfield, president of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association.

“It could be 50 percent higher or more. A lot of people don’t bother to report,” Couture said.

Vermont is the largest maple producing state among the 10 Northern states surveyed by the USDA. It is responsible for one-third of the maple syrup produced in those 10 states.

Maine is the second-largest maple producing state, with 290,000 gallons.

Couture didn’t have a record year at his operation and said many Northeast Kingdom operations had average or low seasons. But producers in the central and southern parts of the state had an outstanding season, boosting the average, he said.

Producers were able to make light-colored syrup, which sells for a higher price, in good quantity this year, Couture said. Last year, by contrast, syrup tended to be darker.

A higher return for producers means they’ll invest more in their operations next year and likely boost productivity even more, Perkins said.

Sugar makers are increasingly turning to syrup as their only source of income, a change from years ago when sugar making was a springtime sideline to dairy farming. Technology such as tubing and vacuum pumps has helped make sugarbushes more productive.

Prices for syrup have been more stable than milk prices, Couture said. He’s come to rely on maple for half of the farm’s income.

“The industry is healthy,” said Couture, who was taking a break from haying Thursday morning. “Maple syrup tastes good, and the consumption of maple syrup worldwide is increasing, not by leaps and bounds, but it’s a healthy increase because it’s steady.”