ScottT
04-10-2025, 08:08 AM
Interesting story in today's Detroit News on the damage done by the Ice Storm to Michigan Sugarmakers. Unfortunately it's for subscribers only, but posting nonetheless in case you are interested.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2025/04/09/epic-michigan-ice-storm-devastating-for-maple-syrup-producers/82982114007/
Here is the Story:
Christi Petersen and her husband, Todd, have never seen anything like it.
The owners of Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery were in the midst of maple syrup season when a historic ice storm hit their business near Petoskey. Now they say it could take years to begin production again — and they're not alone among Michigan syrup makers.
“We're all trying to still get our feet under us and figure out what to do," she said, "because no one's seen this happen before."
Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery is among many maple syrup producers working to recover from the ice storm that hit northern Michigan in late March. It left a glittering trail of destruction, knocking down trees, snapping off limbs and damaging sap collection lines that move the lifeblood of the maple syrup trade.
The Michigan Maple Syrup Association estimates that around two dozen syrup producers were impacted by the severe weather across several areas including Alpena, Charlevoix, Presque Isle and Emmet counties. How long it will take to recover remains to be seen.
“When the limbs come down, it takes the lines down that the sap runs through. It was a very devastating thing,” said David Noonan, president of the Michigan Maple Syrup Association. He said numerous producers have already made progress in their recovery with the help of volunteers.
Education and access to quality learnin
Rest assured: a maple syrup shortage isn’t expected because of the ice storm. But it is too soon to tell how much of a price increase consumers may face following a poor maple syrup season in other parts of the United States and as the market awaits global pricing out of Canada battling a trade war launched from Washington.
Michigan has a robust maple syrup industry, ranking fifth in the United States in 2024 for maple syrup production of 200,000 gallons from 650,000 taps, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jesse Randall, director of the Michigan State University Forestry Innovation Center, said consumers shouldn’t see a shortage of Michigan maple syrup.
"We make a lot of maple syrup in Michigan," he said. "You'll just have to now find a new producer."
Randall does expect price increases following a poor season in southern Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, western New York and southern Wisconsin, he said: "The demand from those producers to meet their local demand is going to put pressure on the bulk and the wholesale buying of syrup.
"With that being said, Quebec and Canada, they control the global price structure of maple syrup. Their season will not end, probably until the first week of May. They're much later in the season. They're just getting going, and until they finish production, we won't know what the overall price will be for syrup. But I don't foresee us running out of syrup anytime soon."
As for the ice storm, Randall noted the dire situation for the producers in the impacted area. He estimates a 25% to 50% reduction in production among the sugar bushes that were impacted.
“In certain areas, some of the sugar bushes sustained near catastrophic levels of damage,” he said. “Long-term prognosis, they're not going to be sugar bushes very long. Short of the damage to the actual infrastructure that has occurred on tubing at the main lines and the pump houses and staff houses and the sugar houses, the impact to the trees is felt over the next decade or two, if there's even trees left standing. That's a real problem.”
Randall notes the stress the trees will be under, even if they do survive. The trees need time to heal, otherwise they’re more susceptible to disease from insects.
For some operations, the damage is so severe that they won’t reinvest because it can take anywhere from 15-20 years to see a return on a sugar bush, he said. Some maple syrup producers will choose to retire; others will explore the possibility of relocating their operations to new land.
“There's some that will just flat out hang it up and say, I'm retired now, and I'll just go help my kids or neighbors make syrup," he said. “So there's some that are absolutely done. There are some that they will never go back into that same sugar bush, because it's not there anymore. The trees are destroyed to the point where they are going to recoup. If they were to put in new tubing systems, you won't get your money out of it. So they are now looking for new sugar bushes.”
Dale Forrester, owner of Maple Dale Farm, west of Atlanta, is considering looking for new land for his operation. Forrester is a fourth-generation maple sugar farmer: “It’s a little bit early to make a call, but I’m looking for new woods to make syrup. I love sugaring. So we’re going to keep swinging it out.”
Prior to the storm, Forrester operated 10,000 taps. He typically sells about 5,000 gallons of syrup annually, packaged in small containers and sold in stores, mostly in Kalamazoo down to Indiana. He also sells barrel syrup and makes maple sugar.
As he works to clean up his land and assess the damage, Forrester said he’s fulfilling orders with the help of his son, whose 17,000-tap sugar bush wasn’t affected by the storm.
At Maple Moon, Petersen said they have enough syrup to continue their retail operations. In the meantime, however, they may reconsider if they can fulfill some of their wholesale accounts: "We'll need every penny from the retail sales to put things back together."
Petersen said they’re waiting for experts to evaluate the situation. The damage in the woods ranged from fallen trees, limbless trees and trees dripping sap from the top.
"We’re hoping some experts from out east are going to come evaluate our woods and help us decide if or when we can tap those trees again,” she said. “Certainly, it won’t be next year. There’s so much damage, I wouldn’t even feel good about tapping the trees.”
The cost of rebuilding the line system will be substantial, Petersen said, adding that she’s unsure what insurance or government aid will cover: “Those are all factors we don’t know yet. Our decisions will also be based somewhat financially on how we go about it.”
In Gaylord, Jennifer RiChard, co-owner of Hidden Acres Sugar Bush, said they are going to try to repair their vacuum system so they can salvage as much of the season as they can.
“We have to go out and repair as much of the system as we can, to try to get the vacuum up, to try to get some sap in, so that we can make some syrup to try to survive the year,” she said.
RiChard said she and her husband, Troy, knew a storm was coming, but nothing prepared them for what they encountered as they watched the trees fall.
“They had already started to pop and crack," she said. "It was the scariest thing to witness that it was just a constant every 10-15 seconds, that’s all you could hear were trees cracking and snapping.”
In their fifth year in production, RiChard said she and her husband are facing the financial strain of significant loans taken out to purchase the property, build structures and buy equipment.
They need to produce a minimum of 5,500 gallons of syrup to meet their loan obligations. RiChard said they were about halfway through their production for the season, with almost 3,800 gallons of syrup ready to go to a bulk wholesaler.
The family is relying on the help from others, including volunteers, Christian Disaster Relief, Amish friends, the Michigan Maple Syrup Association and other producers.
“We are hoping to be able to produce enough just to pay off those loans so we don't go belly up,” she said. “So that is our goal ... to spend as much time in the woods as we can, finding leaks, fixing leaks, putting taps back in trees. And that's kind of where we sit. We need to pray and hope that we get that far — that we can survive the year because next year, we know we will not produce a significant amount of syrup like we're used to because of the damage to the trees.”
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2025/04/09/epic-michigan-ice-storm-devastating-for-maple-syrup-producers/82982114007/
Here is the Story:
Christi Petersen and her husband, Todd, have never seen anything like it.
The owners of Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery were in the midst of maple syrup season when a historic ice storm hit their business near Petoskey. Now they say it could take years to begin production again — and they're not alone among Michigan syrup makers.
“We're all trying to still get our feet under us and figure out what to do," she said, "because no one's seen this happen before."
Maple Moon Sugarbush and Winery is among many maple syrup producers working to recover from the ice storm that hit northern Michigan in late March. It left a glittering trail of destruction, knocking down trees, snapping off limbs and damaging sap collection lines that move the lifeblood of the maple syrup trade.
The Michigan Maple Syrup Association estimates that around two dozen syrup producers were impacted by the severe weather across several areas including Alpena, Charlevoix, Presque Isle and Emmet counties. How long it will take to recover remains to be seen.
“When the limbs come down, it takes the lines down that the sap runs through. It was a very devastating thing,” said David Noonan, president of the Michigan Maple Syrup Association. He said numerous producers have already made progress in their recovery with the help of volunteers.
Education and access to quality learnin
Rest assured: a maple syrup shortage isn’t expected because of the ice storm. But it is too soon to tell how much of a price increase consumers may face following a poor maple syrup season in other parts of the United States and as the market awaits global pricing out of Canada battling a trade war launched from Washington.
Michigan has a robust maple syrup industry, ranking fifth in the United States in 2024 for maple syrup production of 200,000 gallons from 650,000 taps, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Jesse Randall, director of the Michigan State University Forestry Innovation Center, said consumers shouldn’t see a shortage of Michigan maple syrup.
"We make a lot of maple syrup in Michigan," he said. "You'll just have to now find a new producer."
Randall does expect price increases following a poor season in southern Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, western New York and southern Wisconsin, he said: "The demand from those producers to meet their local demand is going to put pressure on the bulk and the wholesale buying of syrup.
"With that being said, Quebec and Canada, they control the global price structure of maple syrup. Their season will not end, probably until the first week of May. They're much later in the season. They're just getting going, and until they finish production, we won't know what the overall price will be for syrup. But I don't foresee us running out of syrup anytime soon."
As for the ice storm, Randall noted the dire situation for the producers in the impacted area. He estimates a 25% to 50% reduction in production among the sugar bushes that were impacted.
“In certain areas, some of the sugar bushes sustained near catastrophic levels of damage,” he said. “Long-term prognosis, they're not going to be sugar bushes very long. Short of the damage to the actual infrastructure that has occurred on tubing at the main lines and the pump houses and staff houses and the sugar houses, the impact to the trees is felt over the next decade or two, if there's even trees left standing. That's a real problem.”
Randall notes the stress the trees will be under, even if they do survive. The trees need time to heal, otherwise they’re more susceptible to disease from insects.
For some operations, the damage is so severe that they won’t reinvest because it can take anywhere from 15-20 years to see a return on a sugar bush, he said. Some maple syrup producers will choose to retire; others will explore the possibility of relocating their operations to new land.
“There's some that will just flat out hang it up and say, I'm retired now, and I'll just go help my kids or neighbors make syrup," he said. “So there's some that are absolutely done. There are some that they will never go back into that same sugar bush, because it's not there anymore. The trees are destroyed to the point where they are going to recoup. If they were to put in new tubing systems, you won't get your money out of it. So they are now looking for new sugar bushes.”
Dale Forrester, owner of Maple Dale Farm, west of Atlanta, is considering looking for new land for his operation. Forrester is a fourth-generation maple sugar farmer: “It’s a little bit early to make a call, but I’m looking for new woods to make syrup. I love sugaring. So we’re going to keep swinging it out.”
Prior to the storm, Forrester operated 10,000 taps. He typically sells about 5,000 gallons of syrup annually, packaged in small containers and sold in stores, mostly in Kalamazoo down to Indiana. He also sells barrel syrup and makes maple sugar.
As he works to clean up his land and assess the damage, Forrester said he’s fulfilling orders with the help of his son, whose 17,000-tap sugar bush wasn’t affected by the storm.
At Maple Moon, Petersen said they have enough syrup to continue their retail operations. In the meantime, however, they may reconsider if they can fulfill some of their wholesale accounts: "We'll need every penny from the retail sales to put things back together."
Petersen said they’re waiting for experts to evaluate the situation. The damage in the woods ranged from fallen trees, limbless trees and trees dripping sap from the top.
"We’re hoping some experts from out east are going to come evaluate our woods and help us decide if or when we can tap those trees again,” she said. “Certainly, it won’t be next year. There’s so much damage, I wouldn’t even feel good about tapping the trees.”
The cost of rebuilding the line system will be substantial, Petersen said, adding that she’s unsure what insurance or government aid will cover: “Those are all factors we don’t know yet. Our decisions will also be based somewhat financially on how we go about it.”
In Gaylord, Jennifer RiChard, co-owner of Hidden Acres Sugar Bush, said they are going to try to repair their vacuum system so they can salvage as much of the season as they can.
“We have to go out and repair as much of the system as we can, to try to get the vacuum up, to try to get some sap in, so that we can make some syrup to try to survive the year,” she said.
RiChard said she and her husband, Troy, knew a storm was coming, but nothing prepared them for what they encountered as they watched the trees fall.
“They had already started to pop and crack," she said. "It was the scariest thing to witness that it was just a constant every 10-15 seconds, that’s all you could hear were trees cracking and snapping.”
In their fifth year in production, RiChard said she and her husband are facing the financial strain of significant loans taken out to purchase the property, build structures and buy equipment.
They need to produce a minimum of 5,500 gallons of syrup to meet their loan obligations. RiChard said they were about halfway through their production for the season, with almost 3,800 gallons of syrup ready to go to a bulk wholesaler.
The family is relying on the help from others, including volunteers, Christian Disaster Relief, Amish friends, the Michigan Maple Syrup Association and other producers.
“We are hoping to be able to produce enough just to pay off those loans so we don't go belly up,” she said. “So that is our goal ... to spend as much time in the woods as we can, finding leaks, fixing leaks, putting taps back in trees. And that's kind of where we sit. We need to pray and hope that we get that far — that we can survive the year because next year, we know we will not produce a significant amount of syrup like we're used to because of the damage to the trees.”