Sugar in sap vs prior years weather?

[Mille705]

I did some searching but could not find anything. How does last summer and falls weather effect this years sugar content of sap? I am sure it depends on a ton of factors and species of maples but didn’t know if anyone had a theory. Here in central Michigan we were extremely dry in June, July and August and have had a temendous amount of water since then (one of the wettest falls on record.) Dad thinks we are going to have weak sap because of all of the rain in the last 4 months. Thoughts? Thanks for the replies.

[Russell Lampron]

Drought conditions are harder on the trees than wet conditions. The wet ground will supply plenty of moisture for the sap to run but the drought may mean lower sugar. Here in NH the conditions were just about perfect for good sugar and the ground was saturated before the freeze up. I'm thinking we're going to have a good season with better than average sugar here.

[johnallin]

Heard Dr Perkins speak at Ohio Maple Days this past Saturday.
If I got it right; a wet May (which we had in NE Ohio) and a warm November (which we also had) are not good for sugar content....you coulda' heard a pin drop.

[Michael Greer]

Drought conditions can cause the trees to put out smaller leaves, or to lose leaves early. The leaves make the sugar. We had a drought a couple years ago that caused a two point drop in our sugar content. There was plenty of sap, but the lower sugar content made it a lot harder to get to syrup. Less sugar means more fuel use.

[wnybassman]

We had HORRIBLE sugar content last year, and from the best of my research and readings, it was mainly due to a drought a couple years prior that stressed the trees and put them in "survival mode". The following year the trees spit out seeds like I've never seen before, which I guess eats up a lot of the trees sugar supply. Foliage was awful too, small leaves that dried up early in the summer season. That led us into last season with sugar content averaging around 1%, but a good amount of sap.

Looking forward to see how it plays out this year. Last summer the leaves were as big and lush as I've ever seen, and stayed that way until early fall. To me that seems like the trees should have produced more sugar than usual, but time will tell.

[treehugger89]

Here in Allegany county the summer was about normal. For the fall we had lots of rain and it was hard to get out to the fields to do second cutting. Making ruts through hunting season and couldn’t drive out to get the deer. Then we just got very cold. Almost looks like my 2014 season for how cold it is. The trees are most likely frozen solid.

[DrTimPerkins]

Heard Dr Perkins speak at Ohio Maple Days this past Saturday.
If I got it right; a wet May (which we had in NE Ohio) and a warm November (which we also had) are not good for sugar content....you coulda' heard a pin drop.

This work is still somewhat in the early stages, but almost anything that either:

1. Makes the photosynthetic engine run slower (hot, dry summer, or cloudy with too much rain),
2. Uses up sugar in the late summer, fall and early winter (hot weather after leaf drop, or warm weather through the winter, seed production)

can result in reduced sugar storage in trees and produce lower than normal sugar content in sap in the spring.

Best results (higher sugar content) are found with the Goldilocks weather conditions...not too hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry.

Good meeting you in Ohio John. Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself. Nice to put a face to a name.

[johnallin]

...Good meeting you in Ohio John. Thanks for stopping by and introducing yourself. Nice to put a face to a name.

It was also good to meet you, and thank you for an informative 2 hours. You're a good speaker - guessing you've had lot's of practice....
Hope your trip back was uneventful. The weather held off for a few hours after the seminar, but then it was lights out. Welcome to Geauga County in January!

[DrTimPerkins]

It was also good to meet you, and thank you for an informative 2 hours. You're a good speaker - guessing you've had lot's of practice....
Hope your trip back was uneventful. The weather held off for a few hours after the seminar, but then it was lights out. Welcome to Geauga County in January!

Thanks John. Was great to meet several new folks and have lots of good questions throughout the entire trip.

The trip home was uneventful, but different than that which was planned. We (wife and I) were supposed to fly back to Syracuse (we'd been travelling since the NY State Conference on Jan 5th) to get our car, but our flight was cancelled due to weather. We ended up renting a car and driving to Syracuse, then getting in our car and driving home. Total of about 14.5 hrs drive, but the roads were not that bad. Otherwise we'd have been stuck waiting for the "next available flight", which was going to be Wednesday (or later). Got home just after midnite Sunday to a bunch of snow and some really cold weather...but still good to be home again.