By Becky Nelson
Bramblings
I am worried. I am worried about the maple season here in the Northeast. We should just be entering the six weeks or so of optimal weather to make the sticky, sweet liquid gold that many farms and maple orchards here in New England depend upon for a large part of their annual income.
The upcoming week of above average temperatures could put an early nail in the coffin of the season. Ideally, we look for temperatures in the 20s at night with daytime temps in the 40s. The maple orchard needs to freeze up at night for the sap to stop flowing in the trees and warm in the daytime enough so that the sap flows through the tree again, nourishing the wood and sparking the growth process that will start the springtime process of creating flowers, making seeds and growing leaves. Without that 20-to-40-degree temperature change, the sap doesn’t flow and we sugarmakers are in a sap drought.
For the next six days, at least as far out as the extended forecast goes, it is not predicted to freeze at all at night. Thursday holds a bit of a promise with a night at 32 degrees, so we will pray for a deep freeze to help us out. If not, this will be our shortest maple season ever. We have had “iffy” seasons before with minimal production, but this has been like none other. Earlier and earlier every year, we now tap and prepare a full month earlier than in years and decades past. We were ready by Valentine’s Day, a full week earlier than we were ready last year. We had a couple of short flows over the next week, and had our first full boil of sap on Monday of this week. We didn’t produce much syrup, but we should be boiling yesterday’s sap as you read this column. We are hoping forecasters are wrong and temperatures will be colder than predicted, but we are preparing for the worst.
Several years ago, experts predicted the demise of sugarmaking in many areas of the country including the Northeast, with the actual demise of the maple tree itself which will be replaced by other trees that can survive in warmer weather. A study done in Michigan between 1994 and 2013 showed a slowing growth rate of maples as average annual temperatures were increasing, and the researchers warned that as tree growth slowed, fewer saplings would be produced to replenish dying trees, with the final demise of the maple coming in about 80 years. This seems to be panning out, with “maple decline” a term often heard in maple circles. For those of you denying climate claims, just talk to a farmer or maple producer. Things are rapidly changing, and any amount of adaptation we may be adopting isn’t having an effect on making winters colder again.
It seems almost impossible to think about the extinction of the maple tree in our area. It won’t affect only us sugarmakers and everyone loving maple syrup on their pancakes, but will affect our entire tourism industry with a shift from the brilliant reds and orange splashes of maple leaf color to whatever shade of fall leaf drop our other trees hold … a lot of yellow and rust color, I imagine. It will affect our entire countryside, with different trees adorning our scenery. It will put all of us maple sugar makers out of work, with a big shift in agriculture in the area. I am not a fan of the coming age, maybe not for 80 years, so I won’t be bothered any longer, but my great-grandkids may not be able to tap like we old folks used to do …
According to experts, if weather drops back to “normal” after this warm spell, this maple season may not be lost. It will undoubtedly be shortened from what we hope for, but may be the new normal. This also gives me shivers thinking of last spring, when we had extended early summery weather followed by a nasty freeze that destroyed all of our fruit tree blossoms and the anticipated crops of apples, peaches and other stone fruits were destroyed. It hurt not only we farmer’s pockets with a big hit to our bottom lines, but it hurt everyone looking forward to apple picking season at pick your own orchards and in farmstands dependent on the apple crop for income.
I don’t know where we are going, but as I mentioned, I am not a fan of what may be coming. Change of any kind is hard, but a change to our entire crop line, growing season and mode of operation is one that is going to be very hard for us old crop farmers to bear … especially those with maple orchards.
Becky and her husband own Beaver Pond Farm in Newport, NH, owned by their family since 1780. You can reach her at [email protected].
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