Cutting off trees to get sap. Its just wrong.

[red maples]

So now that maple season is over I have a chance to comment on this topic of a new style of collecting sap that is being developed and researched by UVM extension maple program.

Let me start by saying I do believe in technology and research in the maple industry. We are learning so much from what these folks are doing and it is very beneficial to the industry. There was an article in the maple news, about ethical practices in the maple industry, I believe from the cornell maple program, including Over tapping trees, tapping small trees, keeping maple production "looking good" to the public to keep the "good reputation" of the maple industry. Yet there is now a way to produce maple syrup by cutting the trees and capping the top and using vacuum to suck the sap.

I am sure I am alone in thinking that this is not the direction most sugarmakers want maple research to go. With the modern techonologies that many of us use, including myself, with vacuum tubing, RO's, Steamaways, etc. we can make maple syrup easier then ever before. Where 1000 or more taps can easily be handled by 1 person with a smaller evaporator with the proper setup. With big food production companies and big Agriculture, both with very deep pockets and world wide investors, could easily step in and purchase a large plot of land and begin to plant maple trees and begin "factory farming" maple syrup with in just a few years time. To me this is really scary for the entire maple industry. That being said with the way companies are developing GMO's this really opens the door for trees developed in a lab to maximize sugar in sap just for the purpose of a plantation/ field planting type of Maple Syrup Production.

This new method really destroys the ethical reputation of making maple syrup and being good stewards of nature that we all enjoy striving for.

[unc23win]

Well said Brad and I agree with you and I also understand that a lot comes from research and with that in mind I would say that it is one thing to do the research and it is another to actually publish the findings (and maybe they have to publish). I don't believe there is any good to come from cutting the tops off saplings at all and in my opinion it is not good for anything. I consider it unethical to say the least.

[TonyL]

What is the preferred "ethical" approach to making syrup? Where is the line drawn.....oil fired evaps, RO's, vacuum systems, tubing......all advances in maple syrup production. Another viewpoint might capitalize on sapling production by claiming less environmental impact to the sugarbush itself, with no need to drill older, established trees year after year, no equipment running through the woods collecting sap, maintaining lines, cutting trees. Just a bare spot of land with rows of topped saplings, producing sap, with no perceived damage to an already established woods, itself.

[DrTimPerkins]

Let me state from the onset that everyone is completely entitled to their own opinion. I agree that this method is very unconventional. As you can tell if you've spent any time speaking to other maple producers or reading this forum (and even recent newspaper articles), there are still ongoing discussions and debate about whether vacuum is a good thing, or even whether collection with tubing is a good thing, or whether maple producers should use RO. Different people draw the line in different places. We certainly have heard from some people who don't think this method should ever be used, and we've heard from people who want to try it. Our goal is not to push it on anyone....I personally consider it to be still research in progress. We're not advocating that people cut down their mature trees and plant maple saplings. We're not sure that anything will ever come of it. It sure works in theory, but you can't really tell how it'll turn out until it is tried in the field. As I said, we're not pushing it. In fact, we've been actively dissuading people from trying it fairly regularly.

In any case, whenever "disruptive" technology is introduced, it provokes a lot of thought, discussion and reactions from people. Anything new often faces a real hurdle of resistance. Many crops now are grown in ways that seemed very unusual, radical, and wrong when first introduced. Nut crops are one good example. Apple trees are another.....the technological changes in that area have been quite extensive....an orchard from 20 yrs ago looks nothing like the new style of orchards. Christmas tree plantations didn't exist 100 yrs ago, but are now quite widely accepted. Things change....what seems very odd today may be the norm tomorrow.

One of the reasons this method is being explored is to help producers in certain situations. Maybe your sugarbush was hit with ALB and had to be cut down. Perhaps an ice storm knocked down 75% of your trees. Maybe you're a small producer who can't find land around you to expand, or afford to buy another 100 acres of mature sugarbush. This method could perhaps get you back into the maple business within a reasonable amount of time, as opposed to stopping you from making syrup for good. Is it ethical for you to deny someone the ability to do this in those circumstances? If climate change continues, and this method allows people to continue making maple syrup in areas they could no longer commercially produce syrup, is it right to stop them from using technology?

As for plant breeding....that is fairly common with all plants -- even maple trees. There has been research to develop sweet maple trees for planting for a long time now. It goes back to at least the 1950s.

In any case, I'll be long retired before any maple plantations are in commercial operation....if any ever are.

[upsmapleman]

My wife found a blog the other day by a woman urging people to boycott maple syrup as producers were cutting the tops out of trees to obtain the sap. She painted the picture we were destroying our trees just to make a quick buck. Whether or not the practice is good or bad our industry survival depends on public opinion. At open house the number one question, does it harm the tree. As long as we can show that trees heal and continue to grow and produce they accept that. How long will a tree live if we keep cutting it off. What will it look like in the future if it does survive.

[mountainvan]

I tried this method on one tree, it ran sap but I don't know how much since I did not have a measuring container between the tree and the mainline. i do not think it will damage tree anymore than regular tapping. New shoots should grow from below where it was cut. In Ohio where I grew up pruning of maples is common. At first they look horrible, but within a couple years the tree is back to looking normal. big ag and Wall Street fat cats are already involved in maple, but we little fellows are still plugging along. Hell there's a whole federation north of me pretty much controlling the bulk price of syrup. If I had a some bucks and could plant a maple plantation on flat ground, I'd be there quickly. Easier on the quickly aging body than humping up and down the mountains.Maple has changed significantly in the 21 years I've been at it, and as anything will continue to evolve. We're all just along for the ride. I apologize to anyone my opinion may offend, we Midwesterners do that. As for the blogger.... Some people are ignorant, have too much time on their hands, and unfortunately have access to the Internet. Some may say I'm in that category! Always good to leave with a joke.

[red maples]

no offense taken what so ever to any comments. I just think its a really good debate.

the new shoots or suckers that grow thats pretty much how they grow fence posts. anyway.

I know its debate and I have read the negatives and positives and I understand those positives and negatives. I tend to concentrate on more of the negative because I like to play the devils advocate. In anycase I personally don't care for the new method, as you know from my first post. I know its just research but money is money right??? If someone copied it before there was a patent and sold it??? I also don;t agree with anything that is "factory" farmed nuts, corn, apples, chickens.... whatever. I just don;t wanna see maple go by the way some of the other big crops have gone. I also do under understand that our neighbors to the north pretty much set the prices and the little guy that does the local farmers markets won;t be effected by this because we still have "local" but its Big Ag and .....oh wait getting into political stuff here let me stop at that point... We all know how powerful big Ag and big business is and how influential they can be to "SOME PEOPLE" if you know what I mean... but Dr. Tim is right with any new technology people will question it.

Chicken factory farming started as an accident... what to do with a typo of 500 chicks... now look at the egg and chicken industry its pretty awful.

farms have become 10's of thousands or 100's of thousands of acres of the same crop. environmentally speaking I think if there was just a little diversity in the crops it would be so much better but the all mighty $$$ shines through.

[Sweet Maple Trees]

So could you please tell us of any first hand or
Later gossip stories of people you have heard of that are running out and starting up this style of maple plantation sugaring operation? Names go a long ways over the hear say muck..who has the quantity of trees ready to do several acres never mind a hundred or thousand acres. Won't come cheap at $10-20 a seedling and when sweet cutting become available off sweet mother trees the price jumps even more/but were working on it.

So now that maple season is over I have a chance to comment on this topic of a new style of collecting sap that is being developed and researched by UVM extension maple program.

Let me start by saying I do believe in technology and research in the maple industry. We are learning so much from what these folks are doing and it is very beneficial to the industry. There was an article in the maple news, about ethical practices in the maple industry, I believe from the cornell maple program, including Over tapping trees, tapping small trees, keeping maple production "looking good" to the public to keep the "good reputation" of the maple industry. Yet there is now a way to produce maple syrup by cutting the trees and capping the top and using vacuum to suck the sap.

I am sure I am alone in thinking that this is not the direction most sugarmakers want maple research to go. With the modern techonologies that many of us use, including myself, with vacuum tubing, RO's, Steamaways, etc. we can make maple syrup easier then ever before. Where 1000 or more taps can easily be handled by 1 person with a smaller evaporator with the proper setup. With big food production companies and big Agriculture, both with very deep pockets and world wide investors, could easily step in and purchase a large plot of land and begin to plant maple trees and begin "factory farming" maple syrup with in just a few years time. To me this is really scary for the entire maple industry. That being said with the way companies are developing GMO's this really opens the door for trees developed in a lab to maximize sugar in sap just for the purpose of a plantation/ field planting type of Maple Syrup Production.

This new method really destroys the ethical reputation of making maple syrup and being good stewards of nature that we all enjoy striving for.

no offense taken what so ever to any comments. I just think its a really good debate.

the new shoots or suckers that grow thats pretty much how they grow fence posts. anyway.

I know its debate and I have read the negatives and positives and I understand those positives and negatives. I tend to concentrate on more of the negative because I like to play the devils advocate. In anycase I personally don't care for the new method, as you know from my first post. I know its just research but money is money right??? If someone copied it before there was a patent and sold it??? I also don;t agree with anything that is "factory" farmed nuts, corn, apples, chickens.... whatever. I just don;t wanna see maple go by the way some of the other big crops have gone. I also do under understand that our neighbors to the north pretty much set the prices and the little guy that does the local farmers markets won;t be effected by this because we still have "local" but its Big Ag and .....oh wait getting into political stuff here let me stop at that point... We all know how powerful big Ag and big business is and how influential they can be to "SOME PEOPLE" if you know what I mean... but Dr. Tim is right with any new technology people will question it.

Chicken factory farming started as an accident... what to do with a typo of 500 chicks... now look at the egg and chicken industry its pretty awful.

farms have become 10's of thousands or 100's of thousands of acres of the same crop. environmentally speaking I think if there was just a little diversity in the crops it would be so much better but the all mighty $$$ shines through.

[GeneralStark]

As Dr. Tim said this method is not going to become common any time soon if ever. The economics of it are just not there. Sure the yields are high, but the cost of planting a plantation of maple trees, then managing the associated issues with a monoculture are quite high. Sure a few folks are trying it due to interest, but I don't see it taking off.

I do agree however that public opinion is an issue with this. I do appreciate the work that UVM is doing to try to help people understand that this is research and not maple sugaring, but there are plenty of ignorant people with an internet connection.

In terms of the "ethics" of this practice, the reality is that humans have been coppicing trees for thousands of years. My wife and I traveled in Europe this summer for our honeymoon and while in Croatia we saw grape vines and olive trees that were over 1000 years old. These are intensively managed crops. People have been coppicing for fuel wood for an eternity in many regions of the world. We will always have an impact and there is no way around that. Sure we should be working to minimize our impact, and we do often cross the line, but in my opinion this method is just one more example of human ingenuity and adaptation.

[Dennis H.]

A few years back I got this bright idea to try my hand at making maple syrup. I did a quick google search on the subject and with a little info I became dangerous! Look where I am at now, RO, Vacuum, tubing, etc.
It still amazes me that even with all this added tech it still comes down to boiling sap to make maple syrup. You just can not skip that step.
The one thing that I have come to embrace thru out my maple adventure is how technology can help and improve the quality and quantity of maple syrup one can make. Just look at the RO, how many producers would not be at their current tap count if it were not for the RO.

I personally live in a kind of a maple tree desert. We mostly have oaks around here. There are a few stands of maples but the number of maples are small in those stands. For me to get the 237 maple trees that I currently have and to have them on tubing with vacuum, I have to travel to my dad's cabin. It is a little over a 1/2 drive to there. If I had a stand of maple trees closer I would tap them in a heart beat.

After I read the original article about topping maple saplings to collect sap I thought what a horrible way to get sap, those poor trees. Then I thought it thru and the more I thought about it the more I started to think this could be a good thing for a few producers.
Another thing to think about is that these trees would normally not be there if it were not for you planting them. Yes if that field was left alone long enough it would turn back into forest but how long would that take?