Crown again

[southfork]

Thompson sorry, small is a relative term and I should have been more clear. I am a small producer at 5,000 taps, with 3,000 more mapped out. I was talking about the producers listed in New York alone who are larger than Crown at around 50,000 taps, there are quite a few according to the Almanac. To me, midsized is 10-20,000 taps. Many producers do not tap that number, however they produce from that many. There are plenty of producers who now top 30,000 taps of their own, many have websites.

Not sure what it matters but there is an entire mid to large sized maple fraternity out there who do not participate on maple boards of any kind. They communicate directly, not in the public's eye. Many are simply too busy.

[Goggleeye]

Im all for laws that protect public health from a real danger but i have a real problem with having to have a flush toilet in my veggie packing house so i can wash lettuce in my salad spinner,,,,,conagra likes that rule though because they can spend $500000 on their pacing house and put my bud that busted his back all his life out of biz...(or make him spend a bunch more money that he could have put into something useful).....and get his market share
So say a large ag firm gets into sugaring and hires some laywers and lobbiest to pass a law saying all sugarhouses need to have a protien skimmer (at a cost of $???) Just to be safe....like the flush toilet i guess.....will the mom and pop producer be able to bear that cost? At $2/lb syrup? No but you can sell your sap to them......i like boiling,,you?

Corporate fascism at its best. And what's sad is that so many folks jump right on in the name public safety or for some other reason that makes them feel good about themselves. And they have no idea big gov't/big business is setting the stage to pull the rug out from under them.

Some people have the foresight to see this, the rest mock us and call us paranoid, etc. Folks won't realize until it's their rug that gets pulled. And then some will just agree to follow the system just to get their loaf of bread. Sadly, free market is gone.

[southfork]

I think RMG maple supplies and the cmspm.org have a good understanding of where commercial maple syrup production is heading. This is not unlike what has already happened in New York.

http://www.cmspm.org/maple-news/

[southfork]

Here are some producers ( RMG Sugarbush and sister company, Michigan Maple Supplies ) who make positive things happen for the industry, large and small. CDL also seems to be on the move and quite aggressive.

http://www.stignacenews.com/news/201...or_Growth.html