North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual - Third Edition

[DrTimPerkins]

North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual available – free!

The Third edition of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual is now available for free download! This fully revised edition has a new chapter on food safety, as well as updated chapters on sap, syrup, and value-added product production based on the most current research. The remaining chapters have had modest updates. Along with chapters on sugarbush management, economics of maple businesses, marketing, and more, the Maple Manual is the most comprehensive, accurate resource for sugarmakers of all sizes. A joint project of the University of Vermont, the North American Maple Syrup Council, and dozens of the industry’s researchers, scientists, and educators, the Manual is available for free download, however, note that it is copyrighted, and all materials should be cited properly if used elsewhere (newsletters, presentations, etc.).

To get access to the download, send a blank email to mapleproducersmanual@gmail.com and you will receive a link to view and download the 434-page Manual. Print versions will be available for sale in the next few months.

[Swingpure]

Page 6-17 was the one I was waiting for, regarding the number of taps per tree.

Thanks, I will try and read all of the pertinent parts of the manual for a backyarder with lines.

[DrTimPerkins]

Good example of what we really don’t like to see. The manual is copyrighted and the contents represent a huge amount of work, money and time spent, and intellectual property. If you want to copy and share any of it, be sure to include a note saying where it comes from in what is shared (the photo in this case). Otherwise someone grabs your photo, shares it elsewhere, then someone decides it should be changed a little, then someone else puts it in a newsletter, but doesn’t include all the notes. Eventually the origin is lost and the meaning gets altered. We’ve seen it happen many times.

[Pdiamond]

Dr. Tim,

Do you know what the cost will be for the printed version and will we be able to order it via e-mail?

[Swingpure]

Sorry, no ill intent intended. I deleted the link to the picture and will not do it again. I had been waiting for the information on the number of taps, and thought the picture shown was in the context of the manual, but can now understand how it could have been copied and used outside the context of the manual.

[Aaron Stack]

Are there any concerns with me running down to my local Staples to print out a copy?

[DrTimPerkins]

Are there any concerns with me running down to my local Staples to print out a copy?

None at all, however there will be a print-on-demand and binding options a available through NAMSC within a few weeks.

[DrTimPerkins]

Sorry, no ill intent intended.

NP. Good learning opportunity for all.

[darkmachine]

None at all, however there will be a print-on-demand and binding options a available through NAMSC within a few weeks.

Looking forward to that, It can live on the shelf next to my well used older manual, lol.

[ebliese]

Looks like Christmas does come in July!

[DrTimPerkins]

UVM Across the Fence segment on the Third Ed. of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJvv_slelcg

[TonyL]

Are the print versions available yet? I know, I know..... but I'm old, and I enjoy the tactile sensations that only a book can provide.

[Andy VT]

Are the print versions available yet? I know, I know..... but I'm old, and I enjoy the tactile sensations that only a book can provide.

I was wondering the same thing and I'm not even old. Much.
Apparently the answer is yes!
https://mapleresearch.org/pub/manual/
Click link from there.
I'll make sure it is on my Christmas list right after "murphy cup"

[TonyL]

I was wondering the same thing and I'm not even old. Much.
Apparently the answer is yes!
https://mapleresearch.org/pub/manual/
Click link from there.
I'll make sure it is on my Christmas list right after "murphy cup"

Thanks! It's ordered!

[TonyL]

Thanks! It's ordered!

It's here, and it's a chunk! Great times ahead sitting by the evening fire!

[DrTimPerkins]

Thank you for downloading the 3rd Edition of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual! Funding to produce the 3rd Edition was provided by a grant from the USDA AMS Acer Access and Development Program. As part of the grant reporting for this effort, we must evaluate the effect this information had on producers and their operations. This survey will help us satisfy this requirement.

The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete, and your responses will be completely anonymous. The survey can be accessed by clicking the link below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZjvPAmZbCw3D6vl-i5oiS2XIhHF4LWu4OYBezildONVE9Iw/viewform

Many thanks again for your time and your investment in maple!

Best,

Timothy Perkins and Abby van den Berg, Editors
North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, Third Edition
https://mapleresearch.org/pub/manual/

[Andy VT]

I enthusiastically filled out the survey.
I may be a small producer but my percent growth is a force to be reckoned with with 2 taps in 2021, 9 taps in 2022, and 30 planned for 2023! :lol:
In all seriousness, as a hobbyist I had to wrestle briefly with how I would approach the survey because I could come at it from different angles, none of them really involving hard numbers (can I really say my yield per tap will change by x percentage at this stage?).
I ended up very honestly answering in the affirmative/positive on every question, and made my best guess at a percent improvement.
I am a beginning sugarer and while discussion groups are extremely helpful, I intend to drink up the manual to the dregs, knowing the work over hours and decades and extreme care that has gone into it, so I can ask better questions here and at sugarhouse visits. Maybe even have answers sometimes.
So, absolutely, my yield per tap, number of taps, and cost per tap has and will definitely improve as a result of the manual. (Also my syrup quality, although I don't think that question was asked)
Not to mention, my crash course in my first year was reading a booklet called "Maple Sugaring at Home" from Tap My Trees, which I now see as a boiled-down-to-the-bare basics version of the producer's manual, so I benefited even then, although that was admittedly prior to the 3rd edition.
For my enterprise size, I went with my 2022 numbers (5 trees) rather than my planned 2023 size (maybe around 20 trees). Keeps things honest. 2 in the bush.
Andy

P.S., also just saw the video "University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center - 75th Anniversary". Really cool. One highlight for me was the idea (starting at 9:39) that we European settlers in North America have arguably just seen one full cycle of the sugar maple so far. No wonder there is so much yet to learn!

[Swingpure]

I also gladly filled out the survey as soon as I received the email from Abbey van den Berg. I am also just a hobbyist but have also benefited from the manual. Thank you for producing the manual and thank you for including hobbyist in the survey.