Price for sap

[Mike Czok]

New evaporator but haven't been able to get more taps. How much should I be paying for sap if I need it?

[spud]

You should be paying 60-65% of the bulk price of syrup. Keep in mind the sugar content will cause the per gallon of sap rate to go up or down.

Spud

[wiam]

You should be paying 60-65% of the bulk price of syrup. Keep in mind the sugar content will cause the per gallon of sap rate to go up or down.

Spud

Going rate in this area is about 50%

[PARKER MAPLE]

So Bascoms was paying 2.80 pr lb for syrup last season, wha dose this equate out to. Im confused. I was considering buy sap this season but was worried it would be to much money envolved

[Mike Czok]

So thats like 1.40/lb or per gallon

[spud]

If the bulk rate is $2.80 Lb then the syrup price would be $30.80 per gallon. 65% of $30.80 is $20.02 If your sap tested at 2% that day then it would take 43 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. 43 goes into $20.02=.47 So you would be getting .47 cents per gallon of sap. If your buyer only pays you 50% then you would only be making .36 cents per gallon of 2% sap. Selling sap is big business in Franklin county and because of the amount being payed it is worth it. I would not sell my sap for 50%

Spud

[Don m]

This past season my sap was testing 3 2. And I was getting payed .50 a gallon.
That price came from a price sheet given out from bascom's.
Give them a call and they will send you one.

[spud]

If my sap test 3.2 then i get .74 cents a gallon. If Bascoms is only paying you .50 cents per gallon on 3.2 sap then you should NEVER do business with them again. I do have a neighbor that pays a straight .50 cent per gallon no matter what the sap test out at. My neighbor feels on average a woods will test 2.0% for the year. I would look for someone else to buy your sap or talk to Bascom's about changing their price.

Spud

[Thad Blaisdell]

Spud you are quite fortunate to be able to sell your sap at that price. Other areas have different demands. In my area you would not be able to get that much if you could sell it with out traveling a long distance. But before you start saying you would NEVER do business with them again, let me say they probably would not miss you. Buying sap is a tricky business in itself. I can do everything right so that I have fresh sap to work with, but then I mix in some sap that somebody brings in that is not that fresh or was not in a tank that was washed the same as me and it can bring all of the syrup down a grade. This could cost me more than I made of the sap I bought. Then the buyer needs to be around when you decide to bring the sap over so that he can test it, and measure it (most likely with a flow meter). Which means he needs to stand around while it is unloading. Personally would not want that job.

Now if it were me, I would boil it and make 100% because that is how it is done.

[Monster Maples]

This is from last year, but gives you something to go off of:
http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/SapBuying2010_files/ShouldYouBuySap.pdf

[spud]

Thad,

You are right in saying i'm very fortunate to get the price i do. Trust me i am very thankful. Although i still feel if someone is only paying .50 cents for 3.2% sap that seems very low. The price of bulk syrup is close to the same anywhere in the state so the sap price should be close to the same also. If poor quality sap should ever become an issue for a buyer then they should just stop buying from that seller. I do like reading your input and thoughts though. I look at you as one of the top notch sugarmaker's on the trader. In the last year your inputs and thoughts have helped me more then you will ever know. I'm just getting back into sugaring and still have a lot to learn.

Spud

[jfroe939]

I thought it was interesting in that article ( http://maple.dnr.cornell.edu/SapBuying2010_files/ShouldYouBuySap.pdf ) that the price paid for sap should be pegged to the bulk rate of syrup. That's fine and I guess ya have to start somewhere to run numbers, but the article clearly points out that when one has very, very efficent equipment you could maybe pay out 80% of value to the sap seller and still make good money on a per/hour basis simply because of efficieny. Yet, the article points out that when the hobby producer has very inefficient equipment, it's hard to even pay out 50% on sap and still make it worth their time. So I guess if I were to interpret the article and grand scheme of it on my terms, I'd be paying for sap based not on the bulk rate of syrup, but rather based on my equipment's efficiency because that drives what I can realistically afford. Now, certainly high-efficiency equipment isn't cheap so you have to make a good deal of syrup to pay for equipment, but what that does at the "sap purchasing level" with the sap seller is potentially drive out or make it potentially uncompetitive for the smaller producer to purchase sap at a price reasonable to them. Thus, it's ultimately a race in any region to acquire higher efficiency equipment first before your competitor. IF there's a great deal of sap available in your area it's not as big of a pricing issue, but when the sap availability in the region is low, then it could be rather competitive to acquire sap at a relatively low price without squeezing margins. That's a reasonable argument for obtaining the ability to process a whole bunch of sap versus sitting tight with the old beast. Also a reasonable way to tick off your hobby neighbor down the road. ;)

[lew]

Well put jfroe939.

[Thompson's Tree Farm]

Of course the other thing is we are to base our price on the bulk price of syrup...which we do not know until after the season

[maple flats]

Every January Maple Digest publishes a price chart. It is labeled as a list of what some producers will pay, or something to that effect. I sold sap last year when I got in a bind and I plan to buy this year at those prices. This year I have a 250 GPH RO. When I get a 500 GPH I may pay slightly more. This is because the sap seller must make a profit or he will not want to get bigger. The faster equipment makes you more in the sugarhouse than you can make in the woods with your own tubing etc. Thus paying more gets you more sap and more use on your efficient equipment, this makes you more $.