Maple producers around Ottawa wait to tap in warm weather

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Haley Ritchie - Metro1 hour ago

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© torstar news service Maple producers around Ottawa wait to tap in warm weather While maple producers in Vermont and Maine already have sap flowing, maple syrup producers around Ottawa say they are still bidding their time waiting for the perfect thaw.
“It’s one of the most difficult decisions maple syrup makers have to make in the season is when to tap,” said Shirley Fulton-Deugo, from Fulton’s Pancake House and Sugar Bush. “Every year it’s different.”
In the northeastern United States, an early thaw meant some large-scale farmers began collecting the early sap run. Unusually warm weather saw Ottawa temperatures climb to 8 C last week, but it’s still too cold to start drawing sap for most of Ontario’s small and mid-range producers.
“We still have a lot of winter in front of yet,” said Ray Bonenberg, spokesperson for the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association. “If I see a cold trend coming I’m going to hold back. Tapping your tree when it’s too cold is no good.”
Bonenberg said frozen trees can crack if tapped too early, taps can dry out prematurely and a cold spell could mean freezing and damage to lines. One day of warm temperatures isn’t enough to get going – ideal temperatures are slightly above zero during the day and slightly below zero at night for a consistent number of days.
Bonenberg said most maple producers are always analyzing and recording the weather, which has a complicated effect on sap from year-to-year. Researchers at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University have determined that climate change over the past 40 years has affected the sap season, but only by pushing the season earlier a few days on average.
Fulton-Deugo said while she’s not tapping yet either, the start of the season overall has become more unpredictable.
“There used to be a usual time – we’d be ready by the third week of March. That used to be the usual, but now there is no unusual,” she said.
She said the earliest Fulton’s have tapped is the very end of February.
Both farmers said even though Ottawa-area trees might not be tapped yet, there’s still plenty of prep work to do before mid-February and March, especially at sugar shacks that invite the public to visit like Fulton’s.
“Everyone talks about tapping, but there’s lots of work to do in the sugar camp in the building where the syrup is produced,” she said. “There’s lots of work ahead.”