SKOWHEGAN – When conditions are just right – mild days, cool nights – the sap flows and Maine’s maple syrup season begins.

The season can start anytime between mid-February and late March, but whenever the sap is ready this year, producers are hoping for one thing: a season that will break the three-year trend of a downturn in production.

Maine’s syrup production dropped by 25 percent last year, compared with the national average of 13 percent, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics. The Maine yield was 225,000 gallons – 75,000 gallons less than the year before. It was the lowest production rate in six years, the USDA reported, and some Maine producers said their yield was even less.

The USDA also reported that the overall sugar content of the syrup last year was lower – a naturally occurring phenomenon that means it took 45 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup vs. 44 gallons in 2006 and 40 gallons in the sweet year 2006.

Jeremy Steeves, secretary of the Maine Maple Producers Association, taps 33,000 trees in Somerset County.

“It was a horrible season,” he said of the 2007 sugaring period. “First it was too cold, and then we got tons of snow. The cold dragged the season into weather that became too warm. The snow melted in just a few days and that was the end of the season.”

The USDA reported that New England temperatures last year were 60 percent too cool, 21 percent too warm and 19 percent favorable during the season.

Bob Moore of Bob’s Sugar House in Dover-Foxcroft is looking forward to a more productive season this year.

“Last year was bad,” he said. “But there is no way to know what will happen this spring. It all depends on Mother Nature.”

Moore said many producers, including himself, have already started tapping their trees even though the flow has not started yet.

He said global warming is playing a part in the early syrup runs. “Historically, each recent season seems to be coming earlier than usual,” he said. With tapping traditionally done in March, Moore said, the syrup has begun flowing in February for the past few years.

The good thing about the marketplace is that supply and demand balance each other. Because syrup supplies were down last season, producers got a higher price for their product.

The 2007 output was worth $7.2 million, compared with $5.6 million the year before.

To herald the syrup season and celebrate the millions of dollars it brings to the state’s economy, Maine Maple Sunday is celebrated this year on March 23, with many sugarhouses opening for business and providing entertainment and samples for visitors.

In central Maine, the town of Skowhegan has adopted the maple syrup season as cause for a week full of fun.

Some of Skowhegan’s events include:

. Friday, March 14, Gifford’s Ice Cream opens, featuring maple ice cream.

. 7-9 p.m. Saturday, March 15, The Variety Show, featuring local talent. The Variety Show helps use the downtown opera house, encourages visitors to come downtown for dinner and shopping, and will fund future entertainment at the opera house. Main Street Skowhegan is co-sponsoring the event. For information, contact Brandy Wheeler, 313-9491.

. 9-11 a.m. Wednesday, March 19, maple cookie decorating for children at the Empire Grill. Free and open to the public.

. Thursday, March 20, Ice Cream Social and Maple Sugaring documentary at the Skowhegan Public Library.

. 2-5 p.m. Friday, March 21, third Friday of the month Skowhegan Farmers Market, next door to LaCasse Shoe, featuring local maple products.

. 7-10 a.m. Saturday, March 22, pancake breakfast and Mud Season Pottery Sale featuring maple syrup pitchers at Tewksbury Hall, $5 for adults, children under 12 $2.50. Tickets will be sold at the door. The event features local foods, syrup and music. Violinist Lori Sheck and her husband, cellist Raffael Sheck, and Pineland Suzuki students will perform 8:30-10 a.m.

. 9-11 a.m. Saturday, March 22, maple cookie decorating for children at the Empire Grill. Free and open to the public.

For information on any of Skowhegan’s events, call Amber Lambke at 858-0842. For a full list of sugarhouses participating in Maine Maple Sunday, go to the Maine Department of Agriculture’s Web site at www.getrealmaine.com.

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