The Bloom Is on for Maple Syrup

"Pancake lovers, take heart," writes Joshua A. Krisch in The New York Times. "In the coming weeks, maple farmers throughout Quebec, Vermont and elsewhere in the syrup belt will dust off their metal spiles for another harvest season, and some scientists are predicting that the sugary sap will flow even more freely than usual.

"That’s because this year, the region is likely to have what is known in botany as a mast year — a time every few years when perennial trees like sugar maples synchronize their seed cycles, and flower as one. Low-seed years usually lead to mass blooms, and may bode particularly well for the maple syrup industry."

Read the rest here.

A Corpse in Maple Syrup?

Kathy Reichs, known for her mystery series featuring a forensic anthropologist named Temperance Brennan, turns out to be knowledgeable about maple syrup production as well.

In her latest, "Bones Never Lie" (New York: Bantam Books, 2014), one of Dr. Brennan's cases involves a corpse preserved in a vat of maple syrup.

A discussion of the sugaring process (in this novel, it's in Vermont) includes both collection of sap and syrup production.

Maple Syrup Research Industry Fires Back At John McCain

The following report by Sam Stein comes to the Maple Syrup Maven via Huffington Post on 16 December 2010:

On its face, it does seem absurd. Buried in a trillion-plus-dollar omnibus spending bill is a line requesting $165,000 for maple-syrup research in Vermont. Americans love the savory sap, and the Green Mountain state is the epicenter for its production, churning out 890,000 gallons this year alone. But why does the federal government have to get involved? And for what purpose are taxpayers forking over the dough?

These questions, undoubtedly, were on the mind of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) when he launched his Twitter screed against the pork-barrel projects included in the omnibus. The syrup-research expenditure made ranked fifth on McCain's list of the ten most egregious wastes of money in the omnibus bill -- a surefire example of the pure backwardness of the appropriators in Congress.

Dig a bit deeper, however, and that $165,000 starts to sound a lot less like a testament to fiscal lunacy.

"This is a lifeline," Tim Perkins, the director of the Proctor Maple Research Center at the University of Vermont, told The Huffington Post, "not only for Vermont, but for all of the maple industry."

That industry is at a crossroads. While international demand for maple syrup is rising, a poor harvest in 2008 crippled the U.S. supply, and much of that void has been filled by Canadian manufacturers. If domestic producers are to survive -- and maintain U.S. consumers' access to reasonably-priced syrup -- they need a technological breakthrough.

It comes down to production efficiency, Perkins said. Maple-syrup makers are being burdened with major fuel costs for producing their product the traditional way. As a result, they are increasingly tinkering with reverse osmosis -- the reduction of the water content of maple sap. Traditionally, sap is concentrated at about 8 to 10 percent, said Perkins. But with reverse osmosis, producers are now trying to concentrate it at 20 percent or more.

"We don't know how the new standards will effect the quality of the syrup," said Perkins, "and quality and taste are critically important. If people can concentrate from 10 percent to 20 percent, it is going to cut in half the amount of fuel they need to use. That means the cost for making maple syrup will be far lower and the cost for consumers will be far lower."

Enter the earmark. For the price of $165,000 -- which is not an addition to the budget, but an allocation within the congressional budget framework -- the Proctor Maple Research Center will pay the salaries of doctoral-level scientists and a technician or two who will spend a year studying and trying to perfect reverse osmosis. It will also allow the center to purchase the sap concentrate to do the research and to keep the lights on while they observe it.

Why is that the federal government's business? Why not allow the private sector to figure it out on its own?

"We are the only people who can do this research," said Perkins. "The maple industry has been asking questions about processing for years. Little parts of it were answered, but big-picture questions haven't been answered. The University of Vermont built a building to process maple syrup. ... We built a new research facility just for this purpose. And we did it without federal funding. It was UVM and the maple industry who paid for it."

Perkins, of course, has a lot to lose if McCain gets his program dropped from the bill. If this $165,000 represents a lifeline, it's his life -- or at least his career -- that's at stake.

And while McCain may have singled out the earmark slated to head Perkins' way, he wasn't necessarily singling out maple-syrup research as a waste of money. Rather, the Arizona Republican has argued that it's the process that bothers him. Projects worth funding should be funded, but not on the sly, as an addendum to a larger or ostensibly-unrelated bill.

But herein lie two particular problems, with this case and with congressional budgeting in general. Maple syrup is the shunned stepchild of the United States Department of Agriculture. The department does have funding for specialty crops, which includes the maple industry. But to get it, an organization or company has to match the funds the government is offering.

"If you ask the USDA, they would probably say they don't exclude maple syrup," said Perkins. "However, if there is a choice between giving money to soybean and wheat they are going to fund those projects because they are much larger commodity groups. Maple is a regional thing. We just can't compete in the competitive arena for the funding."

In short: without the generosity of lawmakers -- in this case, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) -- the well would be close to dry.

"Maple trees and products are a sizable U.S. export resource, with great unmet potential," Leahy spokesman David Carle said. "This industry generates nearly $200 million for Vermont's economy alone. Maple sugar is the second-most economically-important agricultural product in Vermont, after dairy. These small, family-based businesses are deeply ingrained in the character and history of Vermont. The trees are also economically important to the entire Northeast region."

That's the broader problem with McCain's critique, the defenders of earmarks argue: lawmakers know their districts best. While they will naturally be predisposed toward bringing home the bacon -- syrupy or otherwise -- and while earmarking certainly invites lobbyists to put their imprint on the budget process, it often has some value. If lawmakers handed over the pursestrings to the executive branch and its agencies, entire subindustries could go unfunded.

"The question is do all of the decisions for that agency get made by the president ... or do members of Congress intervene?" Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Thursday morning on the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show "POTUS." "I listen to the people I represent on [these] questions."

First Posted: 12-16-10 06:29 PM | Updated: 12-16-10 06:29 PM

Vermont Maple Festival Cookbook

This year's Vermont Maple Festival is history...but there's always the Vermont Maple Festival Cookbook.

The latest edition is chock full of recipes for Main Dishes, Salads, Desserts, Breads, Sauces, Preserves and Dressings, Vegetables, Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Candies, Desserts and more. The book is illustrated with photos from maple country, and the Vermont Maple Festival.

Go online and order one at $13 plus $40 shipping and handling.

Maple Candy Making

The New England Maple Museum has scheduled a session on maple candy making from 10:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Wednesday (27 June).

Visitors to the museum in Rutland, Vt., will also be able to sample the final product fresh from the mold.

For information, see the website or call 802:483-9414.

Vermont Maple Syrup Uses

Although the website claims they're uses for VERMONT maple syrup, we suspect that syrup from other locations is just fine!

Check it all out here.

It’s Maple Syrup Time, So Why the Whiff of French Fries?

The Energy Challenge
"It’s Maple Syrup Time, So Why the Whiff of French Fries?"
By SAM HOOPER SAMUELS
The New York Times
Published: April 28, 2007

Some maple syrup producers are using used vegetable oil instead of heating oil to boil their sap in an effort to help the environment....

Although there is no such thing as a typical season in the sugaring business, 2007 has been genuinely freakish, shattering all the expected patterns. The sap started running late but then seemed never to stop. When many thought the season was over, and some hapless sugar makers had already pulled out their taps, an April cold snap started the sap flowing again.

Complete article here.

Warm Winters Upset Rhythms Of Maple Sugar

By PAM BELLUCK
Published: March 3, 2007
The New York Times

One might expect Burr Morse to have maple sugaring down to a science.

For more than 200 years, Mr. Morse's family has been culling sweet sap from maple trees, a passion that has manifested itself not only in jug upon jug of maple syrup, but also in maple-cured bacon, maple cream and maple soap, not to mention the display of a suggestively curved tree trunk Mr. Morse calls the Venus de Maple.

But lately nature seems to be playing havoc with Mr. Morse and other maple mavens.

Warmer-than-usual winters are throwing things out of kilter, causing confusion among maple syrup producers, called sugar makers, and stoking fears for the survival of New England's maple forests.

''We can't rely on tradition like we used to,'' said Mr. Morse, 58, who once routinely began the sugaring season by inserting taps into trees around Town Meeting Day, the first Tuesday in March, and collecting sap to boil into syrup up until about six weeks later. The maple's biological clock is set by the timing of cold weather.

For at least 10 years some farmers have been starting sooner. But last year Mr. Morse tapped his trees in February and still missed out on so much sap that instead of producing his usual 1,000 gallons of syrup, he made only 700.

More here.

Maple syrup goes 24/7 in Vermont

"In Vermont, where mountains are green and the cheddar is sharp, maple syrup isn't just about slathering on pancakes anymore.

"That's the view, anyway, of Steve Wheeler, who with his wife and an MBA degree taps 5,700 maple trees in northern Vermont, where syrup season is in its final stretch.

"Demand for syrup is increasing, and one Wheeler theory for the rise is the proliferation of TV cooking shows, which have inspired consumers to be more adventurous."

Read the rest of the article by the Boston Globe's Chris Reidy here.

ABC TV agrees: Vermont too warm for maple syrup making

"Vermont Maple Syrup Hard Hit by Climate Change," says Bob Jamieson of ABC News. "Warmer Temperatures, Shorter Winters Could Move Industry North to Canada."

Read more here.

Warmer world puts squeeze on U.S. maple syrup

By Scott Malone
Fri Mar 23, 2007
LUDLOW, Vermont (Reuters) - In the seasonal rhythm of New England, March marks the start of sugar season, when farmers tap thawing maple trees for their sap. But some worry that a warming climate is endangering their future.

Complete article

Vermont Maple Festival's Maple Cookbook

There's "something for everyone" in the cookbook of the Vermont Maple Syrup Festival. Here are just two: "Maple Sesame Stir Fry Sauce" and "Homestyle Maple Barbecue Sauce".

The 41st annual festival is scheduled for 27-29 April in St. Albans, Vt.