Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

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Originally Posted by tcross

question... do warm sunny days affect bud break more than cloudy/rainy warm days? has that ever been studied?

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Most studies relate budbreak and leaf emergence to growing degree days (GDD). Back in 2012, we encountered buddy off-flavor (which is quite rare for us) at the very earliest detectible budbreak (stage V1). https://www.uvm.edu/~entlab/Publicat...FieldGuide.pdf However things changed very quickly that year, so it might have been somewhere between V1 and V2. There aren't a lot of good data on sunny/cloudy for many sites, so that kind analysis is probably not going to happen. However sunny windless days will increase the temperature of the twigs/buds for sure.

Buddy is not detectible in the sap, but if you reduce the sap by at least 50% in a pan on the stove you can check the smell and flavor for buddy off-flavor. There is a group in Ontario looking at developing a "litmus paper" type test for buddy off-flavor precursors in sap.

I encourage all Vermont producers to monitor and report to https://vermontmaplebulletin.wordpress.com/ on the conditions of the season. More and better data are very very useful.

Buddiness is not detectable in sap? Well, you are the maple doctor,,but,,many times I have tasted sap that tasted just like chewing on a fresh green maple leaf. Is that caused by something other than bud break? Defiantly seems to coincide with my red maple buds breaking or hard maple buds turning bright green..

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Originally Posted by Parker

Buddiness is not detectable in sap? Well, you are the maple doctor,,but,,many times I have tasted sap that tasted just like chewing on a fresh green maple leaf. Is that caused by something other than bud break? Defiantly seems to coincide with my red maple buds breaking or hard maple buds turning bright green..

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The initial stages are buddy aren't detectible in sap, but when it gets really bad you can certainly smell it.

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Originally Posted by Parker

Buddiness is not detectable in sap? Well, you are the maple doctor,,but,,many times I have tasted sap that tasted just like chewing on a fresh green maple leaf. Is that caused by something other than bud break? Defiantly seems to coincide with my red maple buds breaking or hard maple buds turning bright green..

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Sugar maple buds turning green would be stage V3 or V4, which is pretty far along. You'll definitely notice a woody/buddy odor and taste in the sap at that point. We've never bothered making syrup past stage V1 (what some refer to as "bud light")...although I know some producers continue well into the realm of "deep buddy." I gag a little just thinking about it.

If we boiled everything we had in the bulk tank, in the sap tanks, and in the pans right now, we'd be at around 81% of a minimum crop (0.5 gpt). We need the sap to keep running good tonite and again after the coming freeze, but if we manage 0.5 gpt this year it'll be a real squeaker and clearly not a done deal yet.

Sap quality in my corner of Bakersfield seems good still, it cleared some after the Monday night freeze, sugar crept up a little but still very very low (1.2-1.4) I've heard of several in this area and down in Underhill who have been in the .8-.9 range on and off all season. I definitely noticed some weak looking crowns this past summer, primarily in the soft maples and up higher on ledgy ground. I would assume the low sugar would correlate directly to the very dry summers we've had here for the past 3 years. Last spring was extremely dry. This is our eighth season tapping these trees, our lowest production year was about 6.2lbs/tap (which is .56gal/tap?) we are currently at about 3lbs/tap (.27gal/tap) so it would take a miracle to hit anything close to a "normal" year. 4.5lbs might be acheivable with the snow maybe working to slow down the inevitable, but any way you slice it, its going to be a pretty poor year. I will say, however, that Tuesday (yesterday) was probably the hardest sustained run i've witnessed here... too bad it was basically water.

well, we heard our first peepers last night. usually that tells us that it's a matter of days. be nice to make it through the weekend. our sugar content was around 1.5-1.6 with crystal clear sap. we're not even at 1/4 crop here. sure glad i don't owe anyone anything. Many producers here haven't seen their sap get above 1%... the highest ours has gotten was 1.75%...sure does take a lot of wood to get a gallon of syrup! Kind of feel for the larger guys up in my neck of the woods... hope too many people didn't take out big loans this year!

Thought it was all over. But the last 2 days sap ran strong. Buckets are still holding strong! I am hoping for a couple more runs to put us over qt/tap. Sap tested 2.4% yesterday. Delicious dark syrup! Some buckets have quit but the ones still running ran hard! Heard peepers last night. Pond is right by the sugarhouse. But let's hope this hard freeze brings more sap! All the best

We made another 35 gallons last night after 65 the night before , sugar was 1.4% . The syrup lightened last night and the flavor was better. I was very encouraged after, looks like we will get one more shot at it after this cold snap we are getting.

Gallons per tap seems like an easy way of measuring success but it really tells you nothing. It does not take into consideration what grade was made or tapping practices, employees or equipment employed. A much better measure would be profit per tap because it's all anyone cares about at the end of the season. Revenue - investment (time + expenses)/ taps would show success or failure in a nutshell. Getting .75 gallons per tap while spending 30 bucks per tap is not good while .25/tap and spending 3 bucks a tap is great. Materials and equipment could be divided by their expected lifespan. Just a thought...
Cheers, Pat

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Originally Posted by Tigermaple

Gallons per tap seems like an easy way of measuring success but it really tells you nothing. It does not take into consideration what grade was made or tapping practices, employees or equipment employed. A much better measure would be profit per tap because it's all anyone cares about at the end of the season. Revenue - investment (time + expenses)/ taps would show success or failure in a nutshell. Getting .75 gallons per tap while spending 30 bucks per tap is not good while .25/tap and spending 3 bucks a tap is great. Materials and equipment could be divided by their expected lifespan. Just a thought...
Cheers, Pat

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It would be a difficult number to get, but I'd agree. Profit at the end of the day decides if a business can keep moving on or should close the doors.