Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[Sugarmaker's dad]

This is getting depressing. Can we have some sap please.image.jpg

[spud]

I live in ny but grew up in Franklin county. Was wondering how your year is as compared to last year on a gallons of sap per tap basis. Here we have only collected about 1/3 of what we got last year. Have one bush at 1700 ft that has only made 3.5 gallons per tap so far. Snow still knee deep.

I am just under 5 GPT so far. Last year on this day I was 7.5 GPT so I am not that far off. I think here on the border we have three weeks of sugaring left. Still hoping for 25+GPT. An old timer in town told me yesterday that the latest he ever boiled was May 2nd.

Spud

[sjdoyon]

We've had three days of snow and five degrees in the morning. Still over four feet of snow in the sugarbush.
Looks like print is arriving this weekend.

[GeneralStark]

Man you guys up north and east will be sugaring til may this year! It's amazing the difference in weather between the different regions of VT.

We had some rain over night then it turned to snow some time this morning with a little dusting. According to the thermometer it dropped to about 31 some time over night and now we are at 32. Not sure if the branches froze or not as sap was running when I checked at 6:45 and there was another 500+gal. in the tanks. They were empty at 9pm last night after concentrating the 800+ I pulled in yesterday. Looks like I might hit 2 gpt in 24 hours here.

We still have some patchy snow in the woods and in most places the ground is still hard with frost. We are forecasted to get a hard freeze tonight but then it gets marginal. Our final boil last season was April 12th. I'm hoping to get beyond that this year.....

[northwoods_forestry]

No freeze last night and gravity + buckets are tailing off. Vacuum still bringing in some. This could be it unless we see a freeze in the next night or two. We're close to 125% and closing in on a record season.

Hope the big flows move on to you folks up north!

[DrTimPerkins]

We're close to 125% and closing in on a record season.

I believe you added vacuum this year. That probably about doubled your yield, so you would be at around 60-65% of a crop without it.

We're at about 30% of what we consider our minimum crop. Weather and some new equipment are being extremely uncooperative. We've not had one "good" day of flows yet. Most have been for only a few hours at best before shutting down again.

How are other northern VT operations doing?

[VTmaplehobby]

This is getting depressing. Can we have some sap please.Attachment 11608

I hear ya, On my way home to the top of the mountain I see steam coming out of all the sugar houses and all the tanks on the road sides are half full at 40*. Make it to the top of the mountain and it's 31 and lines are still frozen... Someday it will be our turn...

[smokeyamber]

Only had two really good days, Now have 320 in storage, but this season has been pretty disappointing for runs. I am glad I upped the taps since without them I would have alot less now. Hope to see one more run today and then it's looking like the end for us in central Vt. Oh well, at least I will have the new setup mostly sorted this season and be ready for the killer year next year... I had not really given the new gravity tubing setup much thought, but may reconsider just in light of how short this season was, that extra sap would be really nice and I have a nice hillside setup for it.

[tcross]

we're doing horrible up here. I'm on the Canadian border as well. got 5" of snow last night! Like Dr Perkins, I've only had one 1/2 way decent run and that was for about 3-4 hours! only been able to make 4 gallons of syrup... the 10 day forecast isn't pleasing either... looking like temps in the 50/60's but only 38-40 at night for 4-5 days! hopefully that doesn't happen!

[sjdoyon]

Up here in the NEK, nobody has made any amount to speak of. We made 320 gallons to date and most of the others have only a barrel or two made. Even Sweet Tree hasn't done much. Pulling spouts Memorial Day weeken