Warm weather makes for sticky business

Author: Ceara Danahar

When asked about the best sugaring winter he's ever seen, Steve Fisher is quick to reply: 1980, hands down. That year, Fisher recalls, he boiled down enough sap to make 500 gallons of maple syrup. He accomplished that feat by using about 1,500 taps, one per tree. Now, a couple of decades later, the native Vermonter has decreased the number of taps he puts out and produces-on average, 150 to 200 gallons of syrup each year.

Does he think the warmer winters Vermont has experienced in recent years have had an effect on syrup production?

"They certainly have," Fisher replies without hesitation.

Fellow sugarmaker and Professor of English John Elder echoes Fisher's sentiments. On sabbatical this year, Elder is studying food, conservation and climate change. He is writing "with a special emphasis on sugaring in Vermont."

"Sugaring off"-as the pros call it-is often a family act. The Williams Farm of Middlebury, which sells its goods on Route 30, is a family-run business that began in 1976. Williams runs a slightly larger production than Fisher, who works as a stonemason full-time and calls syrup-making "mostly hobby, part business." However, the affable 50 year-old has been tapping maple trees since childhood and his family has been involved in the practice for nearly a century now. The sugar house that he operates out of was built during the late 1800s. His grandfather purchased it in 1945. It is located in nearby Grafton, where he lives with his wife Gail Ann.

Fisher sells his products under the label "Wright Orchard Sugar House," and describes his setup as a "mid-size" production. He explains that "a lot of backyard makers put in 10 to 30 taps," while "some of the bigger outfits have 10,000 or more," or even up to 50,000. In the past few years, he has put out 600 to 800, while the Williams family has a few thousand taps.

In the case of quantities of syrup that number in the hundreds of gallons and are obtained through thousands of taps, to create a single gallon of maple syrup, it is necessary to boil down approximately 40 gallons of sap. Fisher points out that "generally, if you can get a quart of syrup for ever tap you have, you've done good." In 1980, he and his family far exceeded that. Their remarkable outcome that winter prompted a televised tour of his sugar house on Good Morning America with Julia Child.

The most ideal conditions for tapping trees depend on the levels of frost, snowfall, temperature and buds on the maple trees, which means that warmer winters have serious consequences for syrup producers. The goal, Fisher said, is to have deep frost coupled with temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 20 degrees Fahrenheit at night. It is imperative that the trees do not bud during sugaring-once they begin to grow buds, the sap starts running freely and can freeze by nightfall. Winters with abnormally warm temperatures can cause this sort of unfavorable early budding. Deep frost is desirable in its ability to prevent this occurrence.

Typically, Elder says, these conditions occur "in March and April, with many sugarmakers in Vermont traditionally tapping the day after Town Meeting." However, Elder points out that "the transitions from winter to spring become even more erratic and unpredictable than usual" as a result of global warming.

The dilemma of early budding, Elder said, involves the germination of maple seeds, which occurs at 34 degrees Fahrenheit. In an early thaw, these seeds can sprout. They will subsequently freeze and die when cold temperatures return, "thus endangering the regeneration of the forest," Elder said.

Again in 1980, "the best year we ever made syrup," Fisher described the winter as having been very cold, totally lacking snow and having frost that extended four feet into the ground. This created a prolonged season where "the sap ran so pure and so fast, we made syrup that looked like water."

Besides early budding, another result of unnaturally warm winter weather is the possibility of disease entering the maple trees. Insects that are generally killed off by cold temperatures may survive. Some, like pear thrips, can eat away at a tree's buds, thereby affecting its foliage. Others can enter the tree through the holes left by the syrup taps. Fisher said that he has already noticed changes in the trees. He warned, "I think a lot of diseases would come into play the warmer it gets."

Lucille Williams of the Williams Farm said she was most concerned with the present. Fisher offered hopeful predictions for this sugaring season, noting February's frigid temperatures and their resulting frost. When asked about her expectations, Williams cautioned, "You can't tell until the season's over."

Williams asserted that her family's previous year of sugaring off "wasn't a great year. It was an average year." When asked about the future of her livelihood, she, however, responded with deference, "We just take it as it comes. Mother Nature determines what we do."

It is with an uncertainty about the future of his craft that Fisher spoke of the challenges which face today's maple syrup industry. "I read some articles saying that in 50 years, the maple trees will be gone," he said. "It's kind of a sad thing to think. I see it already."

Elder spoke with equal anxiety. "Some experts estimate that unless we reverse the current climate trends, maples could largely die out in Vermont by 2050," she said. "As a person for whom sugaring is an important way to be rooted in this region, I find such a prospect devastating."

However, Elder was adamant about the potential for change.

"Global climate change will not be reversed," said Elder. "But it can be significantly mitigated with concerted action on a national and international scale. We have inspiring leadership in our community from people like Bill McKibben, John Isham and members of the Sunday Night Group. It's time for sugarmakers, Middlebury students and others who love this landscape to be creative and determined activists, too."