SALEM, N.Y. — Snowmobile sales have sputtered, ski resorts are struggling and some bait shops, which rely heavily on ice fishing, can barely afford to keep their lights on.
But an exceptionally mild winter in the northern stretch of New York state has been a boon for an industry that sweetens the morning pancakes.
Maple syrup production is off to one of its earliest starts ever, setting the stage for what could be a long and record-breaking season.
“Last year we didn’t start boiling sap until the 12th of March,” David Campbell, president of the Upper Hudson Maple Producers Association, said. “This year we got started on the first of February.”
Maple syrup producers have been heading into the woods since early January to put taps in trees. Some even began at the end of last year.
With temperatures well into the 50s in some places, sap began to flow, kick-starting a business in upstate New York that has enjoyed record levels of production in three of the past five years. Last year, producers in the region made 601,000 gallons of syrup.
While still far behind Canada, which produces 80 percent of the world’s syrup, and Vermont, which is the top producer in the United States, New York is the second-largest domestic producer and its industry is growing. From 1995 to 2010, production reached 300,000 gallons four times, topping out at 439,000 gallons in 2009. But New York has produced at least 546,000 gallons in four of the last five years.
Several factors have contributed to the increase, including improved technology.
The flow of sap used to be driven by gravity. For decades, farmers collected sap in metal pails hung on trees. Gathering the sap and hauling it through deep snow with draft horses was time-consuming and arduous.
Now, powerful vacuum pumps draw sap through miles of plastic tubing strung between trees in the woods. “Instead of a quart of syrup per tap, you can get a half-gallon,” Campbell said.
Increased demand for local food is also propelling the industry.
Campbell’s Mapleland Farms is on a remote ridgeline in eastern Washington County, with panoramic views into neighboring Vermont, but his syrup is served at well-known New York City restaurants like Tavern on the Green and is sold through FreshDirect.
“People are looking a lot more closely at what they’re eating,” said Tyge Rugenstein, chief operating officer of Crown Maple, a producer whose offices are in Dutchess County. “Maple is a healthier option as a sweetener. It goes a lot farther than just putting it on your pancakes. Chefs are using it in restaurants and bartenders are using it to make some really great cocktails.”
Crown Maple, one of the state’s largest producers, has 50,000 taps in the Hudson Valley and recently set up 40,000 more in Sandgate, Vermont, where it has plans for an additional 150,000 taps over the next two years. All of its sap is processed in Dover Plains, New York.
Many smaller producers, attracted by strong prices for maple syrup, have been getting into the business as well. “We get 40 to 50 new members every year,” Helen Thomas, executive director of the New York Maple Producers Association, said. “A lot of them are just getting started. There’s a lot of interest from first-time landowners moving to the country from the city. Their property has maple trees, and they see it as a fun activity. They tap a few trees and pretty soon they’re hooked.”
In addition to generating income, land used for making maple products is eligible for special agricultural assessments that reduce property taxes.
Roxbury Mountain Maple, a producer in the Catskills, has invested nearly $500,000 in state-of-the-art equipment since starting five years ago, said Ben Holscher, general manager. The Internet, he said, has created unlimited sales opportunities for syrup and related products such as maple creams and candies.
“As the local food movement has gained momentum, demand has risen much faster than supply,” Holscher said. “There is an exclusive regional supply of maple with unlimited global demand. That’s a good recipe for keeping prices stable.”
Despite a strong start, the jury is still out on this season. The industry depends on freeze-thaw cycles — warm days and cold nights — to build pressure in the trees and make sap start to flow. That usually begins in late February or March, as winter loosens its icy grip on the Northeast and Canada, where most of the world’s maple trees are found.
This year’s relatively warm winter has been attributed by many scientists to a particularly strong El Niño weather pattern, which has presented an unusual, almost comical, challenge for some producers such as Mike Bennett, whose maple operation is based in Ellenburg, New York, a short distance from the Canadian border.
“In past years I’ve been up to my hips in snow,” he said. “I would put tubing lines on trees when there was 2 or 3 feet of snow on the ground. This year, without snow, I’ve had trouble reaching them.”
Donald Monica, 70, of Corinth, New York, in the southern Adirondacks, said: “I’ve been in this business 54 years and no two seasons are alike. This is the weirdest year I’ve ever seen.”
But he is not complaining — at least not yet.
The one thing producers do not want to see is a sudden extended period of warmth. That would make trees start to bud, ruin the syrup’s flavor and bring the season to an end.
That is why Thomas, of the producers association, said she was cautiously optimistic. “Ask us in May how the season is going to be,” she said.
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