Cutting off trees to get sap. Its just wrong.

In my opinion, trees may be the only affordable solution to our atmospheric carbon problems, and planting more of them may be our only hope at this point. The only utility I see in this sapling cutting process would come if it were used as part of a forest planting operation. Go ahead and plant a field of saplings on three foot spacings. After five or ten years take out half of them, leaving those with good structure or good sugar content uncut. Eventually they could be thinned out to some normal tree plantation spacing and from then on operate as a normal sugar bush. If the ultimate goal was a forest, I could get behind this idea...but not otherwise.

Red maples i have to play the other side here. I tap just under 1000 trees as a hobby but we have expanded every year. When do i need to stop before i become a factory maple farmer? ( i dont think i can stop) also i cut tapable maples to thin our bush . It was not taped for over70 years so tree spacing is tight. And we are lucky to have thousands of sapplings is it wrong to cut some out or just pollitically incorrect?they are a renewable natural resource.

well factory farming is more of a method in my opinion. Where its done like a factory. Simply put its about the mistreatment of land and animals. I increase the amount of taps as well. I have tubing. I use the modern tech for making syrup too. How can anyone say its OK to cut the top of a tree off just for sap. we do it for just about everything else why to do we have to do it for maple too. thats all.

there isn't anyone currently using this method to my knowledge. I am just saying its just about ripe for the picking for a company with a very strong finacial backing and a knowledge of the time it will take to start producing. Its more realistic then you might think. is it gonna happen tomorrow... of course not.

What if a tornado came and leveled the bush today?? What would you do?

I don't think that cutting off the trees is going to take off in a big way. I think it might be done some but personally don't think it will be a big deal. This is why, its going to take four of the sapplings to equal one regular tap. Its going to take four times the work and four times the money. The other thing is if you drive from Pa to Maine all you see is maple trees. I would think people with deep pockets are just going to do it the easier way. Four bags, four drops, four tees, etc compared to one drop. That being said I think it is an awesome idea. If you have some field not doing anything you could do it. Ive often looked at places where the saplings are thick along the road and thought of tapping all of them with one mainline. They will be cut back anyway to keep the road clear. Only thing is people wouldn't understand. In a regenerating woods most of the saplings will die anyway could pick out the winners early and cater to them, even if you pick out twice what will eventually be there and could be thousands left that you could cut the tops off. Theron

I have never heard of this. How is sap collected once the tree is cut?

If and when this becomes a viable business plan; I think traditional producers may have a valuable marketing tool.
Something like eggs from free range chickens vs caged... people will pay more for quality.
Now if I was in Quebec and making syrup, I may be singing a different tune.

What used to be my nice lawn is no longer that, just rocks over dirt. I think I'll transplant some saplings and see how this works with an acre of trees. May take a couple years, but I'm patient.

I have to say I am on the fence with this one. I agree perception in a commodity market such as maple syrup is a tough thing to overcome. But if the ecomonics of it do work out and syrup prices drop would people be in favor? I bet yes! Unfortunately people tend to develop opinions based on one criteria...whats in it for me. Sad but probably true in most cases. Take it one step further, I would say maple plantation farming for sap is a more sustaining practice then cutting down a live Christmas tree every year for a 6 week season. Last I knew conifers dont resprout when cut off at the trunk.

Mike

Roundup ready sugar maples here we come. Seedlings with 30% sugar and sap that never needs defoamer. 30 gallons of sap per tap? Why not 200? What will the future hold?