Published by bill on Sat, 02/11/2012 - 09:58
Everyone has been asking us lately about what effect this relatively mild winter might have on maple sugaring this year. After over 40 years of sugaring experience, we are convinced that what has transprired so far, will have no real effect, as surprising as that might seem. The reality is that a good sugaring season can happen after warm winters, really cold winters, snowy winters of non -snowy winters. The real issue becomes the weather durint the actual season. In particular, whether daytime temperatures reach the high 30's or low 40's, and the nights drop down into the low to mide 20's. It doesn't seem to matter much whether that weather occurs in February, March or April.
Well this year, it appears that we are getting ideal sugaring weather in February, and, as a result, we started tapping on Feb 4, 2012. At thisd point we are about 30% tapped, and have been clollectins a nice run of crystal clear sap, with a good sugar content (>2% sugar). Of course, there is no guarantee that the weather pattern won't shift dramatically, either to become unseasonably cold, or unseasonably warm. If it gets too cold for sap tp flow, we should be fine since the tapholes will ice up and be ready to run when it warms suitably. Too much wa\rmth is the reason we need to tap now, since one never knows if the season will end before folks typically tap in this area.
The current forecast as of today (Feb 11) calls for a very cold blast of arctic air for a couple of days, with night time temperatures droipping into the single digits and teens, followed by a nother warming trend starting next Tuesday/Wednesday that should bring good sap runs.
Stay tuned.