ONmaplesyrup

Provincial overview for March 20 to 26, 2016: This past week sap harvest has now ended in early areas, while producers further north are still collecting fresh sap and boiling this year’s maple syrup crop.  Across Ontario, maple syrup producers report very nice maple flavours this year, typical of each colour grade for consumers and bulk buyers to choose from.

The current weather system (Thursday & Friday) of snow in the north and freezing rain and ice pellets in the south is causing ice accumulation on trees in some regions. Watch carefully if you are out in the sugar bush for falling limbs and chunks of dislodged ice. Continue reading →

Sap harvest and syrup processing activities – March 12 to 18, 2016

Over the past week in Ontario, maple syrup producers in most regions have been diligently boiling fresh sap into syrup as the 2016 sap harvest season progresses. It is still too early to estimate the final syrup yield for most areas.

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Sap flow activities and the syrup crop – March 5 to 12, 2016 

Ontario maple syrup producers have been very busy this past week keeping up with a number of good sap flows and boiling the new maple syrup crop.  Maple syrup production has been tricky this year, with such mild conditions and reduced snow cover in many areas.  Long standing producers who keep detailed records of dates, temperatures and sap flow events at their operation, utilize these past accounts to help them make decisions.

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Tapping and boiling activities – February 27 to March 5, 2016

Many sugar bush operators have been tapping maple trees this week when thawed conditions have allowed it. In early southwestern regions a few larger producers who have been fully tapped since early February are reporting up to one third of a syrup crop has been produced so far after 4 or 5 successful boils.  One report on syrup quality says mainly Golden syrup having a rich taste of amber has been produced so far.

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Tapping activities

Many of the larger maple syrup operations have completed tapping their sugar bushes, thanks to mild weather last week and spring-like conditions over the past weekend.  Many medium and smaller producers have not completed tapping their trees and have decided to wait until the coming weekend, or wait for next week to see what the extended weather forecast predicts.  Very cold weather has currently placed sap harvest on hold.  Sugar bushes in central and northern regions remain deeply frozen.

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Ontario maple syrup production report for February 8 – 14, 2016

Sugar bush activities

Early in the week, alternating freeze and thaw conditions provided sap flow in southern area maple operations. Producers who completed some or all of the tapping in their sugar bush were able to collect sap. Several producers collected enough sap to complete one or two boils for syrup.

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Maple syrup production report for February 4, 2016

Welcome to the 2016 Ontario maple syrup production report. The maple report will be updated on a weekly basis and will continue to the end of sap harvest and bud break in spring.  A seasonal summary of the production year will follow in late spring, once the syrup industry has had a moment to take stock of the resulting syrup and sugar crop.

The syrup season has begun early this year

The winter of 2016 has been relatively mild so far.  This week, many syrup producers have been busy tapping maple trees in the sugar bush.  In southern regions, a few producers have completed tapping and are collecting sap this week, taking advantage of early sap flows.  Some will be boiling the first batches of syrup before the weekend. Continue reading →

Sap flow and syrup crop summary

This past week has provided a range of fair to excellent conditions for sap flow in the province.  Several producers using modern vacuum collection reported record quantities of sap in a single flow.  Sap sugar concentration was slightly lower as is expected nearing the end of the harvest season. Continue reading →