Organic Premium

[Brokermike]

Slowly but surely I'm working on a new 80 acre sugarbush to relocate both our house and sugaring operation. We're small now but the prospects for growth seem bright. Not to mention my overwhelming desire to live with my family surrounded by much more than the 10 acres we have now.

For those growing their business who has elected to get certified organic? More importantly is there a premium when selling bulk that offsets the paperwork and small expense?

[Ausable]

Hi Brokermike -- Guess I'm kinda old school now and have a little trouble with Buzz words and terms. I know "Organic" and "Green" can mean money if marketed correctly - as know one seems to know exactly what the words mean - except that they are good words in these times. Polite society at one time preferred the word "organic material" over every day terms like "chicken poop", "cow dung", "horse buns" and "rotten leaves" etc to use on gardens etc. instead of chemicals. Now --- My question to You (because I don't know) is - what does "Certified Organic" actually mean? I let the maple leaves rot under the maple trees or I didn't add anything extra to my maple syrup.......or if I pay a fee I can use the words "certified organic" on my maple syrup labels........Mike

[3rdgen.maple]

Yeah it pretty much just having a paper trail of every aspect of everything maple and then getting certified. No chemicals which in most cases we all are to an extent we just dont have the paper trail or time to do all the work to get the certificate. Some things that can ruin it are tapping roadside trees, or a hedgrow next to a farmers crops that get chemical assistant etc. Also little things like type of defoamer used. One thing Im not clear on is your source of water for cleaning. What happens if you are on public water that uses chlorine in the water? Inspectors frown on well water, atleast thats what mine told me. Too much involved for most to deal with.

[maple connection]

I got approved for the certification and found syrup is worth alittle more but, there is alot of paperwork. I just started the process afew weeks ago so, I am still green about all the rule. I do know they want you to use 5/16 spiles, natually organic defoamers and there is specifications on how big the trees have to be to tap them with 1,2 or three taps. No trees 50 feet from any dump sites. I am working on setting up the inspection which then I will learn more on the do's and don't. If you would like to look into CNG (certified naturally grown) ther web site is, http://www.naturallygrown.org/

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

I looked into "organic" and found a term that rather baffled me. I was not supposed to tap any trees in "decline". I was unable to get anyone to give me a definition of a tree in decline. We have many old trees that have some dead or dying branches that have survived through my lifetime (60 yrs). Are these trees in decline? If so, our family's sugar bush would be unable to be certified organic. We ultimately decided not to be certified. The slight increase in prices for our bulk syrup did not justify the extra costs and record keeping.

[maplwrks]

At the Middlebury maple school this last weekend, Bruce Bascom stated that "organic" syrup was only going to be worth .10 a pound more....Kind of hard to pay them $350.00 and not get i9t back. He also stated that there was more than enough organic certified syrup around.

[highlandcattle]

We got certified through the "Certified Naturally Grown" program a couple of years ago. The paperwork was simple and the inspecton is by another farmer. You pay a donation for joining. Look up the site and see what you think. We upgraded everything this year and it really does pay off. People like to know that our product is safe and clean and no contamination. That little lable made all the difference. We DON'T charge extra! There is no reason to. We operate totally off grid and promote sustainable living and have had open houses since 2003. After some of the places we have been to and seen how dirty and sloppy some people are I wouldn't touch their syrup for all the money in the world. Keep up with the latest standards and attend the Cornell seminars and keep things neat and clean and respect your forest and there shouldn't be any problems. Hope this helps. Oh,yeah, they check to see if there is any "blowover" from any other places that spray. We're lucky that we are so private and our neighbors don't use any chemicals either.