Mild winter could hurt maple syrup producers

INDIANAPOLIS — More than anything, Art Harris wants it to get cold. Really cold.

The owner of Harris Sugar Bush in Greencastle is getting ready to start tapping trees for maple syrup. But after stretches of temperatures hovering around 50 degrees for days at a time this winter, he's worried he may not make his yearly goal of 1200 gallons.

“Warm weather is our enemy,” he said.

Maple trees hoard starch and sugar in the summer, preparing for winter, when they go into a sort of hibernation. Then, as the trees suck up water from the ground over the winter, it dissolves part of their stored sugar. That sugar water is tapped from trees by producers, who boil it down into syrup.

But abnormal weather can ruin the process. If the summer is too hot, trees don't store enough starch for the winter, and producers must boil more sap to get the same amount of syrup.

Producers also need the right weather to start tapping trees. Freezing nights followed by warm days is ideal. That's when frozen trees full of sap thaw, pushing out sap through holes, and then freeze again at night, sucking in moisture from the ground for more sap production.

With this year's warm weather, Jeff Settles of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources predicts a below-average harvest. He compiles a yearly survey of the state's syrup producers. Last year, 89 respondents produced a record 17,088 gallons of syrup.

Thirty-eight of Indiana's counties produce maple syrup. Last year, the average gallon sold for $38.91.

Vigo County Parks and Recreation Department Superintendent Keith Ruble told the Tribune-Star he's already seen wildflowers blossoming in the western Indiana county's parks and once the daffodils hit their peak, it's a sign syrup season is over.

Last year, employees at a Terre Haute park tapped more than 200 gallons of syrup from trees to sell for a fundraiser.

“The cold spell coming in this weekend is welcome to me,” Ruble said. “We need some cold weather. The trees will respond when it warms up again.”

On average, maple syrup producers have a one-month window to collect sugar water.

“It's the biggest gamble in agriculture,” Harris said.

If the weather stays cold beyond this weekend, Harris said he could hit his 1200-gallon goal by early March.

If he doesn't make his goal, he'll have to take a hit and buy syrup from friends to meet his demand.

But he's still optimistic he'll get there on his own with a few good weekends.

“But the warm weather really does make you nervous,” he said.