“Sounds like prices might go up,” says reader Ralph Fato. “Time to stock up on maple syrup. This is from Wisconsin and I heard Vermont having issues as well.”
Sticky Situation with Maple Syrup Production,” says the headline on mystateline.com.
Beloit, Wisconsin – “Since the ground is still frozen, sap isn’t able to flow through the trees. This could actually end up shortening the season.”
“The conditions have to be below freezing at night and above freezing during the day. So the sap has a freeze – thaw which actually pushes it through the tree.” Conditions that the Welty Environmental director Lena Verkuilen says haven’t happened very much this season, “If it stays cold then we just won’t get very much sap.”
Which would drive up prices. They usually start tapping maples the last week of February, but this year the center wasn’t able to start the process until this past weekend. “ (2 weeks later than usual)
However, with the recent warm up, “extractors are remaining optimistic.”
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