Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[spud]

I was able to get 1500 gallons of sap today from my S/E facing trees. I was not expecting anything today. I think I have my vacuum issues fixed. Once the lines all thaw out I will know for sure.

Spud

[rhwells2003]

Tapped my trees Saturday morning (450 taps or so this year). Sap started coming in around 10am. Turned the vac on and dumped sap till 5pm. Things looked good and clean so I started collecting. From Saturday 5pm to sunday around midnight we got 700 gallons. 1.5gal/tap for the first run, I'm happy with that. I'll be running home at lunch today and turning the vac on. By the looks of the upcoming weather it wont be shutting off for a week or so. I need to get out the in the woods, think I have a few leaks. I'm a couple inches down on vac then what I ran last year. Should've done that yesterday with the day off and the kids in school. But the wife said "No kids, we should go ice fishing" How do you say no to that! haha

[billyinvt]

Not sure what sources you guys use for weather, but I like Roger Hill on WDEV because he mentions sap in his forecasts, and he has a web page too.


https://weatheringheights1.wordpress.com/

[smokeyamber]

Roger Hill is the guy.. he called it !

[GeneralStark]

All tapped and sap has been running well today. Also ran well yesterday for several hours in the afternoon despite 33 degrees....all about the sun. Have lost track of how much sap I have collected since saturday as I ran the RO twice since then. Also have so much ice in tanks from Jan. and Feb. sap....hoping that will all thaw this week. Will likely boil tomorrow as I have little tank space left and I have a couple days off.

[spud]

I was able to get a half gallon of sap per tap in the last 24 hours. Should pick up today but there is no freezing nights for three days. Every time I check the weather they change it. I still cannot get in the woods with my 4-wheeler due to tons of snow. Hoping a bunch melts by weekend so I can fix some leaks. I find it interesting that my sugar content is now 2.4% now that my vacuum is only running 22 inches. All other years my vacuum would be 27 inches but my sugar would only be 1.5-1.8. Am I better off keeping lower vacuum. I know Dr. Tim has said higher vacuum will not bring the sugar down. My neighbor that borders my woods runs a dairy pump at just 18 inches and he gets 2.5+ most all season. My woods butts up to his with the same size trees all facing the S/E and his sugar was always much higher than mine until this year. The only thing I can think of is now that my vacuum is down to about the same as the neighbors it caused my sugar to go up. Is super high vacuum really the way to go? Scratching my head.

Spud

[BAP]

Spud, it may be more that sugar content seems to be higher this year in general. I know mine is higher and have heard from others that they are seeing the same thing. I suspect that if you can get the vacuum up higher you will see more overall total amount sugar harvested for the season.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Spud,

I have a customer that is 72 and has been making syrup for many years and he says when he cranks vacuum up way above 22 his sugar plummets and has every time he has tried it. Says he gets a lot higher sugar at 22 and the increase in sap above 22 doesn't pay off in the loss of sugar. He's a very intelligent guy and I'll going to not give my opinion on this.

I was able to get a half gallon of sap per tap in the last 24 hours. Should pick up today but there is no freezing nights for three days. Every time I check the weather they change it. I still cannot get in the woods with my 4-wheeler due to tons of snow. Hoping a bunch melts by weekend so I can fix some leaks. I find it interesting that my sugar content is now 2.4% now that my vacuum is only running 22 inches. All other years my vacuum would be 27 inches but my sugar would only be 1.5-1.8. Am I better off keeping lower vacuum. I know Dr. Tim has said higher vacuum will not bring the sugar down. My neighbor that borders my woods runs a dairy pump at just 18 inches and he gets 2.5+ most all season. My woods butts up to his with the same size trees all facing the S/E and his sugar was always much higher than mine until this year. The only thing I can think of is now that my vacuum is down to about the same as the neighbors it caused my sugar to go up. Is super high vacuum really the way to go? Scratching my head.

Spud

[GeneralStark]

I'm interested to hear Dr. Tim's thoughts but my understanding is that it is pretty well established that vacuum does result in lower sugar content sap. I assume Spud, that you are thinking what you are seeing may impact your sugar yields overall? In which case, my understanding is that the higher the vac., the higher the yields of overall sugar. As harvesters of sugar, the more sugar the better, right?

It is also my understanding that high sugar early season sap sugar content can be anomalous as sap is not conducting throughout the tree's stem and root system, unless it has completely thawed or there was never frost on the ground (likely the case for southern producers.).

Spud - Has your neighbor thinned his woods?

[spud]

I'm interested to hear Dr. Tim's thoughts but my understanding is that it is pretty well established that vacuum does result in lower sugar content sap. I assume Spud, that you are thinking what you are seeing may impact your sugar yields overall? In which case, my understanding is that the higher the vac., the higher the yields of overall sugar. As harvesters of sugar, the more sugar the better, right?

It is also my understanding that high sugar early season sap sugar content can be anomalous as sap is not conducting throughout the tree's stem and root system, unless it has completely thawed or there was never frost on the ground (likely the case for southern producers.).

Spud - Has your neighbor thinned his woods?

My neighbors woods is has not been thinned in many years. His trees and crowns are the same as mine. Dr.Tim has said in the past that higher vacuum will give you more sugar overall at the end of the season. Although last year I got 25 GPT with a 1.7% average and my neighbor got 25 GPT with a 2.3% average. My vacuum was running almost 10 inches higher then his all last season. I'm in no position to be questioning Dr. Tim and his research but something seems odd here. All my lines are thawed right now and just 20 minutes ago I was getting 2.4% out of the releaser. West Verginas friend is not the only person saying this. Thanks everyone for replying.

Spud