Deep Frost = Long Sap ?

[WF MASON]

-20 here again this morning , I've heard many comments or optimistic sugarmakers this winter ,mentioning the cold weather and the deep frost making for a long season. The fall rains ? moisture in the ground ? Will it be a record year for most ? With so many extra taps going into the bush, even if it's an average sap run year, it could be 'big' for alot of folks. With the economy heading in one direction and the price of syrup heading the other, I think syrup will be more than just a hobby for alot of folks this year. It used to be a big part of the income on farms, with so many out of work , many might come back to it.

[tessiersfarm]

I did 20 gallons out of 75 taps last year which I thought was quite good. If I go over 100 taps this year and its a big year I hope I can handle it. I work full time so this is just a hobby. If I could pull a little proffit it would please my wife.

[Russell Lampron]

Bill the cold weather is a good thing but with the snow cover the ground is insulated from freezing. If there is any frost in the ground there isn't very much here. Frost in the ground does help make the season last longer but snow depth is the most critical factor. As long as the snow doesn't get really deep like it did last year we should have a good season.

[tapper]

If there has been snow cover there is no frost. We have had snow cover here since mid November. Losing most of the snow a month ago what was left turned to ice and we have 1" of ice under 2 feet of snow. I was plowing roads into the woods yesterday and once scraped thru that ice the ground is not frozen and the temps have been in the single digits and teens here most of the winter.

[220 maple]

W F
The longest run I ever got off of a deep freeze like we are having is 36 hours, a long time syrup producer near me claims that they will run 72 hours off a deep freeze. I believe conditions need to be perfect, an extended freeze with a slow warm up and the barometric pressure being perfect.
With syrup prices rising and the economy falling my prediction all will not be happy in Maple country. After last springs price jump i believe it will have the opposite effect. More syrup and less available dollars to purchase it. I hope I'm wrong maybe the crowd I hang with are not middle class, because my middle class friends are far more concerned about having a job than buying Maple syrup. I've worked for the worlds largest printer for 28 years, and things are not good. Unless things change real soon I believe my employer will shutdown equipment and down size.
Well that enough negativity from me today. I apologize.

Mark 220 Maple

[mapleman3]

with the economy this tight, syrup prices cant stay high, fuel prices are down which will mean syrup prices will be too, not low low, just not as high as they were. The deep freeze is great as long as the thaw comes gradual. we've had it warm up too fast before and shut things down . hopefully this will be as good as last year( for us south of the boarder-) and much better than last year for you northerners!!

[HHM-07]

Mark,

What field of printing are you in ,?? i am a retired printer of 43 yrs Mostly sheetfed offset From 80 inch 5/ color to abdicks. from greeting cards to at the end i was doing plastic cards It was good to me and i enjoyed it.

Dick

[HHM-07]

when i was young on the farm we had an older gentleman boil for us, and he always said the only thing that matters is the weather that you get during sugaring time and that seems to hold true for me

Dick

[DaveB]

Snowcover does insulate the ground from a deep freeze, but it only slows it down. The snow on the ground will cool down to the ambient air temperature eventually, but only very slowly. Think of ice on a lake...it only goes down so far, but it does slowly increase, even with snow cover.

The ground here in Southern New England is frozen to it's typical depth and the snow on the ground has a ice ice/moisture content. If temperature behave in about 4 weeks, we will have a good season, at least here.

As for the price of syrup, I do think it will come down and I do think that this years crop will be good. Long range forecasts all look pretty good and there isn't a ridiculous snowpack up in Quebec like there was last year. Yes, the economy has taken a down turn, but energy costs have too. Prices of a lot of food items have remained high even though the ingredients costs have gone down (think of corn prices).

I think we're lucky in that there is a drive to more natural sweeteners (as well as to buy local) and I don't think one year of high prices is enough to drive the buyers away. So long as this years crop is normal, demand will still be there and might even go up. If the supply is there, prices will relax. I'm thinking around $2.50/lb by summer, but that's just me. If this years crop is low again and can't support any growth, then demand will drop and so will prices.

Just my thought on the matter....

[TapME]

My son is a shipping and receiving clerk for the old Spencer press up this way. Is that the same company? On the price of syrup there is a buy local promotion that has been going on for a while and it has worked very well here. There will be some adjustment in the price to reflect the current economic status. As for the frost last year was good for us the bad part was the 5 feet of snow on the ground when tapping started. A little less 2 feet would make me happy.

[brookledge]

My expierience with frost going deep into the woods is not good. The years that I have had no snow and cold temps will drive the frost down 3 feet or so and when the air temps climb for sugaring weather the roots are still frozen solid so even though a day when you think the sap should run good it doesn't.
On the other side the years I have gotten early snow cover and had it stay all year it has been better years. You still need the right temps during the season though. So it seems like a real good year only comes once every 4-5 years. Last year for me was my best ever getting over 1/2 gallon of syrup per tap. And this year the snow cover is just like last year so now all I can hope for is good temps during the season.
Also it seems that mother nature has a way of knowing when it is time to push the buds out. The years the season starts 2 or 3 weeks late because of cold weather doen't mean it will go 2-3 weeks later than normal. so in most cases once you lose a week due to cold temps you can never get it back.
Keith

[gmcooper]

The weather during sugar season is by far the greatest influence on production. Over the years we have covered the entire gammet from no snow and 3' + of frost to 4' snow and 0 frost (last year). The best seasons we had where the ones with the best weather during sugar season. 20 perfect days will get you far more sap than 40 lousy ones.
Mark

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I am curious to see what the tap count will be this year for everyone. I would guess it will be far higher than it has been in a while. I don't forsee these prices staying up, especially if there is a banner crop north of the border with the huge amount of taps they have added, prices could be close to half what they are last year. This global economic crisis is going to drive the prices down along with the loss of customers from the outrageous prices they experienced the past few months.

[markcasper]

brookledge, You took the words right out of my mouth with regards to frost!
My best years always occur when there is little to no frost and that requires adequte snowfall prior to or just as the ground starts to freeze.

2003 had tons of frozen ground, as did 2005- (my worst year ever) In 2003 however, temperatures returned to quite cold in April and resulted in copious runs, but after 10 days of 60 degree weather, the syrup got very off flavored.

[220 maple]

HHM-07
I've been printing books for RR Donnelley & Sons company for the past 28 years, 27 of them I ran a web press that printed the inside of the book, black type only for several years then two color for about 15 years, I moved to the sheetfed dept. a little over a year ago. Mostly 4 color covers and dust jackets plus endsheets when needed.

Mark 220 Maple

[3rdgen.maple]

What a small world I am a new member and while reading post I noticed some printers on here. Im a self employed service technician for the printing field. After being an offset pressman for years then production manager for a shop I could never put the wrenches down. After extensive service training with both offset, bindary and xerox I started my own business in service and sales. Works out good cause I can manage my time for the maple season.

[maplwrks]

I Ran A Web Press For Standard Register For 23 Years Before Jumping To The Power Company. Lots Of Business Forms.....

[Revi]

I am curious to see what the tap count will be this year for everyone. I would guess it will be far higher than it has been in a while. I don't forsee these prices staying up, especially if there is a banner crop north of the border with the huge amount of taps they have added, prices could be close to half what they are last year. This global economic crisis is going to drive the prices down along with the loss of customers from the outrageous prices they experienced the past few months.

I agree. I think that the price will start to go down when the first syrup hits the market. That's okay for us, because we just eat the extra syrup we don't sell. I think the price will end up around what it was last year when all is said and done. We added over 50 new taps. Our motto lately has been "More Taps and Less Sap", but this could be the year when we are boiling non stop to keep up it!

I'm getting more storage in case we have bigsap!

[howden86]

I have learned the only thing that matters it good weather during sugaring season.

[Revi]

I agree. Last year was just too cold around here. We need 20 at night and 40 every day!

[tiggy-at-mac.com]

We had one run last year that went about 40 hours. Was one of those well-covered ground situations. Surprised the heck out of me, especially because the first 12-hours was a decent run, but then the last 20 hours were *really* good. I think we might have gotten more than three gallons per tree over the course of that time on about 19" of vacuum.