Abnormally dry summer has maple syrup producers worried it won’t be a sweet spring
Abnormally dry summer has maple syrup producers worried it won’t be a sweet spring
After an abnormally dry summer, maple syrup producers in the Atlantic region are anxiously waiting to see what winter weather brings and how it’ll impact their yield.
“I’m quite concerned on the amount of sap and the sugar content that we’ll have,” said Paul Reynolds, who co-owns Little Mactaquac Maples with his wife, Wendy Reynolds.
The couple’s operation in Mactaquac, N.B., which offers everything from traditional maple syrup to maple barbecue sauce and maple-sweetened salsa, has been a labour of love for them.
“We started out 17 years ago with 75 taps and now we’re at 1,200 taps and our products have been tested around the world,” said Paul.
However, the business owners worry they have a difficult spring ahead — similar to the challenges they faced in 2020 when there was another drought.
“The following season, the maples did not produce very high sugar content,” he said, adding that it required double the work to boil the sap to create syrup.
“It presents many more challenges to produce the product, and it’s much more expensive.”
Back then, he says some winter rain helped with the sap flow. This year, if winter and spring continue to be dry, it will mean less sap and potentially less sugar.
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