Last year i remember in late feb a local producer saying how it was gona be a bad year because any past year they had made atleast half there crop by end of feb, then like you say about 2nd week of march the trees just opened up like a faucet and did great, had my best year ever, which is hard to compare since every year i add taps and make improvements to vac etc, but still made over 100 gallons before it turned buddy and then a friend with a larger operation took the rest of the sap and made about another 50 gallons of some of the lightest commercial i have ever seen!