The Official U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac 2015 | Page 19

MAINE MAPLE PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION

*

PO Box 93, Newfield, ME 04056, www.mainemapleproducers.com

SUMMARY OF SEASON

T

he 2015 maple season
in Maine, mimicked
the 2014 season, in many
ways. Many of us were reminding of the old saying:
“Patience is bitter; but its
fruit is sweet.” Once again,
cold weather plagued much of Maine
during the regularly scheduled sugaring
season but as those of us who have been
at this business for multiple generations
know, there is no such thing as a regularly
scheduled season. When all was said and
done, patience paid off and the season
was a sweet one for most producers.
Maine is a beautiful state with over 6000
lakes and ponds but more importantly to
sugar makers, Maine contains over 17 million acres of forest. At over 320 miles, from
north to south, the maple season typically varies distinctly from one region to
another. For instance, it is not uncommon
for the southern most part of the state to
be completely finished their sugaring season, while the northern producers are just
getting started.

The first boils in southern Maine, didn’t
occur until the second week of March and
for some, even later, due to the cold conditions. Most syrup was produced during
the first and second week in April. Most
southern producers were happy with
production results and some were well
above average.
Central Maine suffered the most losses
during the 2015 sugaring season. Their
season ran about three weeks late, similar
to the southern producers. Some did not
boil at all in March and were really excited
when the first good runs came in the beginning of April. Unfortunately, many of
these same producers had their season
cut short by the warm temperatures that
came during the second week of April,
leaving them with a very short season and
limited production.
Northern Maine producers primarily
come from two distinct regions. Some
are from Aroostook county, an area that
is bigger in size than Connecticut and
Rhode Island put together, while others are located on or around the Golden

Road, a 96 mile long, private logging
road. These producers enjoyed a season
that was closest to normal on the 2015
calendar. Production was good for most
of these producers with most averaging
around 4lbs per tap. Production wrapped
up, for them, by the second week in May.
Most producers in Maine report extremely good syrup quality in 2015, with
a lot of Golden/delicate and Amber/rich
syrup produced. Overall smaller than
normal quantities of Very Dark/ strong
syrup was produced. Maine bulk prices
have dropped somewhat in 2015, due to
prices being adjusted to stay in line with
the Quebec federation and the relatively strong US dollar against its Canadian
counterpart.
Maine recently adopted Maple Syrup
as the “official sweetener of Maine.” With
over 450 licensed sugarhouses, Pure
Maple Syrup is a growing commodity in
Maine and one with many sweet benefits.
Michael Bryant, MMPA

Brookridge Boilers
owner Richard
Guillemette of
Lyman, Maine passes out syrup samples during Maine
Maple Sunday on
March 22.

U.S. Maple Syrup Almanac

2015

19