Quote Originally Posted by Russell Lampron View Post
The time for sugaring here in the central NH was the month of March and when I first started doing this I was usually all done by the end of March. With all of this global warming I have been sugaring into April each of the last 4 years. This year I made 67 1/2 gallons of syrup in the month of March and 67 gallons in April.
Yes of course global warming is real, and real debate (as opposed to denial) is long past. We're in agreement about that. But that being said, using one year's sugaring in one region as a yardstick is not a good argument to prove it. For example, just two years ago, 2015 would have made a good argument that the earth is "cooler" - if one season in one region in one year was a valid yardstick. That year, in Western MA (probably not too different from central NH) the best time to tap would have been March 9th. But looking at the article, you can see that while that year was a cold season, you can also look at all the cold seasons from the last 120 years and see a very clear trend line. Look at the bottom of all the red lines in this graph: http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_1920w/Bos...age02-9173.png

That said, even though large variation swings from year to year is the norm, that doesn't mean that it all comes out in the wash. What does seem clear is that a general shift in the best "zone" for sugaring will make a big overall difference in where sugaring is worth more than doing as a hobby, over the long term.