Cold snap boosted W. Ind. maple syrup production

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A western Indiana parks superintendent who had feared mild winter weather would cut into his staff’s maple syrup production says they ended up with their second-best harvest to date.

Vigo County Parks and Recreation Superintendent Keith Ruble says a cold snap in mid-February induced maple trees in the county’s Prairie Creek Park to produce more sugar water, or sap. He tells the Tribune-Star his staff produced 358 gallons of maple syrup this season, second only to the 412 gallons they produced in 1988.

Last year, the park produced just over 200 gallons.

Ruble says this year’s harvest came to a close Wednesday. He says it was ended because temperatures in the 60s posed the risk of high bacteria counts in the sap that’s boiled down and condensed into syrup.