Vermont continues to lead the nation in maple syrup production, with this year's yield up 7% from last season.
Sugaring operations took in and processed more sap in spite of a season that was only 34 days long 鈥� more than two weeks shorter than last year's season, which ran for 52 days.
Amanda Voyer of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association said that the shorter, later season did not impact numbers, in part because of a 6% increase in tap count, as well as a few days of excellent sugaring weather. She added that for some sugar houses, a stretch in April held record-breaking production days.
Mark Isselhardt, maple specialist at University of Vermont Extension, said that in addition to the good weather and increased tap count, producers were able to get even more yield per tap thanks to technologies like vacuum collection.
"The biggest technology is vacuum," he said. "There's a very linear relationship between the level of vacuum you pull on the taphole and the amount of sap that you get."
These technologies allow sugaring operations to be less dependent on freeze-thaw events, too.
As for next season, Voyer said, "It's hard to predict the future, but just looking at recent trends, I would say things look good and healthy and strong."
