BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – This winter, Vermont has had its fair share of wonky weather that has impacted outdoor plans and a favorite on the breakfast table.
Vermont sugarers are tapping into trees, but with the business so weather-dependent, producers say they’re having to pivot.
“Trees don’t use calendars. They’re influenced by the environment, day length, if the weather shows up for a period of time, if it’s gonna produce sap flow, it’s gonna produce sap flow,” said UVM Extension maple specialist Mark Isselhardt.
“We’re doing everything earlier. So based on the calendar, we started earlier, and we’re done earlier,” said the owner of Aldrich Christmas and Maple Farm in Richmond, Andy Aldrich.
Aldrich operates around 2,800 taps on the property, but because it’s largely a one-man operation, prime tapping weeks like these means more work for him.
“Last night – four hours of sleep. Probably the same thing tonight. Maybe you have to boil twice. That doesn’t happen every year,” he said.
Butternut Mountain Farm has 30,000 taps at its Johnson location, and they too are starting early.
“We can start earlier and not hurt our production at the end of the season so as our operation has gotten larger, we can tap earlier and earlier,” said Butternut Mountain Farm President David Marvin.
Marvin adds that over his 50-plus year career in the maple business, the season start has been bumped up further and further –with this year starting just after Christmas.
Though starting early may mean a head start to the season, concerns over climate change are no drop in the bucket.
Marvin said, “I think the thing that worries me the most is extreme weather events like the ice storm of 1998. Or if we had hurricanes that move further inland like in 1938. The vast amount of the northern forest impacted those concerns.”
Still, Marvin says like most work in agriculture, it’s all about having the right attitude.
“I’m always an optimist – otherwise I wouldn’t be in an amazing business,” he said.