Checking what VT sugar makers are doing

[billyinvt]

Earliest start we've ever had here. The forecast just couldn't be ignored. I did 90 taps on Sunday and 83 Monday. Had about 290 gallons in the tanks yesterday afternoon. Sap tested right at 2%. Even trees in North and East facing woods were running strong. Solid freeze last night and two more days of warm temperatures should keep us busy until everything freezes up on Friday.

[VTfarmboy]

didnt freeze monday night here... sap ran good all night hauled .65gpt yesterday testing 2% exactly...

[VTfarmboy]

28 wed night...picked .65gpt last night testing 2%exactly still pulling nice med... no more frost in my produce fields

[smokeyamber]

Sap is running hard, 3/16 lines are pouring out. Tapped in majority of the buckets last night in the dark and they were all dripping FAST. Kinda wish I had done it a day or two ago. Running the RO on the stuff from the tubing and hope to boil this weekend. Trying to avoid barrel sapsicles this year ! Definitely one of my earliest starts, but as everyone is saying the weather is too good to pass up !

[Andy VT]

I'll definitely stop by sometime! Thanks!
Last night I tapped 10 of the 30 taps I have planned. Only 2 were sugar maple; rest were norways. Got almost 3 gallons sap by this afternoon; most of it from the sugar maple. The norways do produce way less sap.

I still have only the 10 taps out here in Essex Junction. Sap yield hasn't been that much, so will tap more after this current freeze. Guess the ground still was pretty cold despite the mild winter.

[dvnwvt]

I have 85 taps (20 buckets, 65 on 3/16 natural vac). I rolled the dice and tapped everything on Feb 10 here in Fairfax (earliest ever for me). Last week’s run produced 4 gal. … about 1/4 of my average total for the past few seasons. It was surprisingly dark for first run and with more sand and snot than usual.

Question for the group: as I understand it, taps ‘drying up’ are due to bacteria? Does cold weather delay or mitigate this effect at all?

Definitely a strange year, good luck everyone!

[DrTimPerkins]

Question for the group: as I understand it, taps ‘drying up’ are due to bacteria? Does cold weather delay or mitigate this effect at all?

Taphole "drying" is mostly due to the response of the tree to microbes. Microbes get into the taphole and elicit wound healing, which is itself mostly a process of the tree "walling off" the wound internally. This limits the spread of the infection to keep microbes/disease from getting deeper into tissues and spreading further. But by keeping microbes out, it also means that sap can't get out.

The rate of taphole drying is related to how many and the types of microbes get into the taphole and the temperature. Colder temperatures will slow, but not entirely stop the process. Tapholes have a limited productive lifespan that varies. Good sanitation, keeping vacuum always moving sap away from the taphole, and cooler temperatures prolong the productive season. Taphole drying happens more quickly and affects yield more that producers think...and we can begin to see effects by as early as mid-season in many cases.

To mitigate this problem, maple producers should use the best sanitation practices available, and if using vacuum, make sure there are few or no backflow events which occur.

[dvnwvt]

Thanks Dr. Tim. I had seen that you ‘retired’ but was hoping for one of your thorough answers 🙂. BTW, I started in sugaring after taking your night class at MMU HS some years ago. I refer back those notes many times! Shortly afterwards I told a local excavator and long time sugar maker I wanted him to prep a site for a sugarhouse. He took his hat off, placed it over his heart, and said “Another one bites the dust.” I think about those two things often on those ‘challenging’ days.🤣

[DrTimPerkins]

Thanks Dr. Tim. I had seen that you ‘retired’ but was hoping for one of your thorough answers 🙂.

Not quite officially retired yet. Just using up a lot of vacation time before I do retire 6/30/2023. Sitting in Ft Myers, FL this week in 85 deg F weather each day. Hurricane Ian devastation in Sept 2022 is amazing. Headed home and back to work in a couple of weeks for the remainder of the sugaring season. Then back on vacation from about mid-April til the end of June.

BTW, I started in sugaring after taking your night class at MMU HS some years ago. 🤣

My apologies.

[VTfarmboy]

picked .30gpt testing 2.2% should be at almost half crop before coming cold snap which seems crazy for feb(ave feb is 1/3 crop)