Sap! Vermont Maple Sugar Makers To See A Great Run

An enthusiastic maple sugar tanker truck collects sap
at some taps in St. Albans, Vermont last March.  A big
Vermont sap run should start today with very favorable
weather this week.

 A warmish spell in late February got an early jump on sap runs for some Vermont maple sugar producers before a wintry first week of March shut things down temporarily.  

Starting today, though, maple sugarers should expect to be very, very busy.  They won't be sleeping much until this weekend. 

The warm spell coming in is sure to create some great runs. The sap runs best with freezing nights and daytime temperatures well into the 40s, perhaps low 50s.

True, after tonight, temperatures across most of Vermont will stay continuously above freezing from Wednesday morning until Friday night, but that's not long enough to put a big wrench into production.

It's also true that daytime readings in some parts of Vermont will get into the 50s to possibly near 60 in some spots, but that's OK too. The heat wave won't last long enough to harm this year's sap run. Plus, there is some refrigeration for the trees going on with the snow cover to help keep things under control.

On top of that, a hard freeze is coming this weekend, with daytime highs Sunday not even getting above 32 degrees for many of us on Sunday.  That'll help recharge the maple trees for the next sap run in the inevitable next warm up. It'll also give some maple sugar producers to catch some rest. 

Last year, Vermont produced 2.2 million gallons of maple syrup, more than half the nation's total. The value of the 2020 maple crop was right around $58 million, so you can see that's a valuable commodity. 

Let's hope this year is another good one for Vermont. It seems off to a great start!