2018 Nebraska Tapping Journal

[misterclassic]

I'm going out on a limb here and starting a journal on tapping in Nebraska. I don't think our state tree, the cottonwood can be tapped so I'll cut to the chase. My wife & I live on an acreage in the northeast corner of the state and we are surrounded by corn and soybean fields as far as the eye can see. On our 6 1/2 acre slice of real estate we have windbreaks to the north and west containing 2 acres of 85 year old silver maple trees that I didn't know could be tapped for maple syrup until a couple of years ago. In the spring of 2015 we put in a couple dozen taps just to see if what I'd researched on maple syrup could actually be done here. It can! We ended up with maybe a gallon and a half of syrup that first year and I was hooked. Nectar of the gods. In 2016 we added a few more taps, got more syrup and last year (2017) put in 185 taps just to see what the trees could do and were overwhelmed. My flat pan on propane wok burners couldn't keep up and we ended up dumping most of the sap.

The weather here in Nebraska is very sporadic and our tapping season is shorter than what most of you experience. Last year during the final week in February and the first week in March the temps were in the 70's and budding started so that ended the season. I made a note last year to put out taps earlier this year so here goes. The forecast highs for the next 3 days are in the 40's & 50's with lows in the twenties so today I put in 50 taps on bags. This evening I checked and 29 of the bags had sap, maybe collectively only 2 gallons but it's a start. I checked sugar and the range was from 1 1/2% to a little over 3% with most in the 2 1/2% range so I'm happy with that. I'll need much more though before I can start boiling so I'll keep you informed how things are going. If anyone else out here is tapping in the Cornhusker State please join in!


Jim

[tbear]

Hi Jim, it's a great activity, isn't it? I don't recall seeing many, if any, other Nebraskins here so if you get lonely you can join us Iowans on a thread titled "sugaring in Iowa" or something very close to that. It too is under the the "journals" heading. Welcome aboard and I'll be looking forward to your posts! Ted

[misterclassic]

Saturday, January 20, 2018 High temp yesterday was 60 degrees but not much flow on the 50 bags. I collected what was there, 2 1/2 gallons and pulled the bags. The forecast for tomorrow is 8-10" of snow plus some ice thrown in for good measure and 40-50 MPH winds. They're calling it near-blizzard conditions, I call it a full fledged blizzard. I'll just have to wait it out. Typical Nebraska weather.

[misterclassic]

Sunday January 21, 2018. Happy tapping to everyone back east! Northeast Nebraska is under a blizzard warning now, starting later this afternoon and continuing through Monday evening. Fifteen inches of snow forecast now along with gusts over 40 MPH. We haven't had one like this for about 5 years so I guess we're due. Time to put the tracks on the Grizzly! I pulled my bags yesterday but the forcast after this passes is above freezing temps so that's encouraging. The refrigerator and bar are stocked, so all we can do is wait it out.

[spud]

Very interesting to hear about sugaring in Nebraska. Would it be possible to run a one inch mainline down your windrows and go to a three tap per lateral line? This way your not removing your bags at times. Your tap holes would not dry up as fast. Add a little Guzzler to this and you might see production double. You may have to go out and buy a 2x4 rig before long. Good luck to you and have fun.

Spud

[misterclassic]

Some lines might be in the future and I've been doing some research on it, and it seems that many if not most of you producers have lines. I do have some basic dumb questions though. Do you leave the lines up all year 'round? My trees are 85 years old and are constantly dropping branches and wondering if it's a major issue for you guys? Cost would be a consideration too. I know there would be a lot of variables but what would be the average cost per tree on an annual basis for tubing and related hardware, pumps, storage etc?

Jim

[spud]

It would be about $6.50 per tap for pipe and fittings. The pipe stays up all year. Tree branches can fall all they want and it will not hurt the pipe in most cases. I saw a Guzzler on CL for $400 the other day. For storage you can buy a cage tank for $100-150. You would replace your spouts every year for .20 each.

Spud

[misterclassic]

Spud, thanks for the reply, it clears up some questions I had. There may be some areas I could put in lines to tie 10-15 trees to one collection point, that would save me some time. I don't have much slope to work with so that might be an issue. I'll figger something out!

It sounds like many of you are busy now with the better weather. I checked long range here and the next three days it will be in the 40's but then the 10 days after that highs only in the upper 20's so that's not promising. I'm going to wait until after that, it's still early here using the past three years as my guide. I think it will take me that long to get dug out anyway. We had 14" of snow the past two days with winds clocked at 71 MPH so that makes drifts around 8-10' high. Our place is surrounded by soybean fields which hold back exactly zero snow so it ends up in sheltered areas. I'm envious of pictures where the snow piles up so neatly on the fence posts. That never happens here. Sigh.

Jim

[misterclassic]

I decided to put bags back up on 45 taps as the forecast highs will be in the low 40's for the next couple of days. We'll see what happens. After the blizzard some of the trees with taps are surrounded with 4-5' of packed snow and there are other drifts around the place 8-10' high. It makes for interesting travel to get to some of the trees but the tracks on the Grizzly work perfectly under these conditions.

Conditions back east must be good as some of you are getting good flows but it will be a few weeks yet before that happens here.

Jim

[misterclassic]

January 29, 2018. So far this year collected only 4 gallons of sap from 50 taps so obviously not much is flowing. We've only had 5 days total of above 40 degrees this year and the 10 day forecast is highs only in the mid twenties. The weather must be warming up back east, I enjoy reading about a few of you going gangbusters right now. We've boiled down what little sap we had for a few ounces of syrup and its just as good as it was last year! Can't wait for Mother Nature to start cooperating! Happy tapping!

Jim

[BillinTennessee]

I think it's great you can tap Maple trees that far west. You said you have Silver Maples. What kind of yield do you get. I am in Tennessee. We don't have many Sugar Maples here but I do have about 20 Black Maples that I can Tap. I have a few more but they are too small. Maybe in 5 years. I also have some Red Maple I might try next year. Unfortunately my trees are scattered out and in uneven terrain so I will stick with 5 Gallon food grade buckets. My problem here is the weather, it's just to warm to have an extended season. I just boiled 100 Gallons of sap off 25 Taps. Made 2 gallons of really good syrup. Then it warmed up again and the sap stopped flowing. I hope it gets cold again. I was hoping to make 10 Gallons this year but it isn't looking good. Good luck in Nebraska. Hope you have a good season.

[misterclassic]

Bill, it sounds like you have a pretty good yield. Last year we got around 9 gallons of syrup from around 350 gallons of sap. Our season is unpredictable and all I have to reference is my own notes as very few people are tapping in Nebraska. Last year it was in the 60's the last week in January, then down into the single digits for a few weeks then back up in the 60's again so it's touch & go.

My trees are 24" to 36" in diameter so I'm able to get two, sometimes three taps per tree. Some flow like gangbusters when the weather is good, some not so good. All our trees are on around two acres so we don't have to travel too far and it's fairly flat. We won't be doing anything for at least 10 days, last night we had -7 for the low and the long range doesn't look promising. Mother Nature calls the shots.

[maple flats]

Mother nature always calls the shots.

[jkment]

My son and I got into tapping silvers about 3rd year in, learning every year, working on filtration to make a nice product, built a wood fired heat evaporator, lots of work, we use buckets and tree saver spiles, hit the weather right in mid january boiled down about 30 gallons sap last weekend, about a 2% yield, made a nice dark amber clear product, we have about 50 taps out so far, going to shoot for about 100 taps this year, shooting for about 4 -5 gallons of syrup product to sell this year, we can boil down about 30-50 gallons for finishing in a day. lots of work but fun to do when you can't hunt, fish, or garden. Too much snow pack cool in the maple creek basin today, checked buckets, about a gallon is all today, I was researching myself to see if anyone in nebraska taps, pretty sparse group of us. There is some money in sapping if done right and efficient, no complaints on syrup I sold last year!! Plus we use maple syrup instead of buying honey now, good stuff man!!

[misterclassic]

It sounds like you have a nice little operation, roughly the same size as ours. We don't sell any of ours, at least not yet. The syrup does make great gifts though! And the friends who help us always get paid in syrup and so far no complaints with that arrangement! This year we put in 50 taps the third week in January and have only collected 5 gallons of sap total so far. It's been much too cold up here and this week doesn't look good either. It might get above freezing by next Sunday the 25th. I'm glad to hear of others in Nebraska tapping a few! It is addicting! This is our third year, last year we got around 8 gallons of syrup and we'll just have to wait & see what happens this year!

[jkment]

Looks to be a good week coming here, perfect temps, have little over 100 taps out, collected about 10 gallon last night, gonna be a busy weekend burning down if not before, 1 3/4 quart product finished out from at Jan. early Feb runs, last bit had quite a bit of niter in it, darnit, still working on filtration, happy drippin!!

Jay

[misterclassic]

It's supposed to be in the 50's up here Saturday & Sunday, 40's tomorrow and Friday. I think things will start moving now. I've only got 50 taps in so far with other commitments to tend to but when I see the sap start dripping that darn maple bug will hit and I'll be heading out with the drill & some taps & bags!

[misterclassic]

We've had 2 days of snow & high winds and I pulled the bags 3 days ago, there was only 3 gallons of sap from 50 taps. The temps had been in the 50's but not much flowing. It's been a disappointing season to say the least. Forecast for the next 5 days is highs in the low 40's and maybe 50 in a week, maybe THEN something will move.

[misterclassic]

Our trees woke up and we have sap! We collected 50 gallons of 2 1/2 percent sugar from 50 taps in 36 hours Friday and Saturday. High temp yesterday (Sunday) was only 30 so nothing flowed. Forecast is 40's & 50's for the upcoming week, looks good!

[misterclassic]

The sap collected Tuesday boiled down sweet but a two gallon sample I collected yesterday was boiled down and has that off flavor, buds have started opening so we're shutting down. I feel we have the sap potential to justify a larger evaporator so we'll be spending the next 10 months looking into that. I hope everyone has a great season yet, it sounds like out east it's going good for you!