By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

GEORGETOWN, Ohio — Tom Becker has struggled with tapping maple trees the past five years and had even thought of giving up altogether. His records confirm he was just tapping between four and eight gallons of sap per season, so he was close to closing down his small operation.

But this spring he tapped 20 gallons of sap from his and neighbors’ trees in Brown County, and he’s sidelined the idea of putting his operation on hold. “Normally it takes 40 to 50 gallons of sap to get one gallon of finished product,” he said. “That’s 25 percent sugar content from these trees.”

Ohio maple syrup production was 125,000 gallons this year, an increase in production of 55,000 gallons from 2010. And the number of taps increased from 385,000 in 2010 to 405,000 in 2011. Nationwide, there are 9.58 million taps totaling 2.79 million gallons.

“Previous winters have been harsh on maple syrup producers, affecting a very time sensitive harvest season,” Becker said. “During those seasons we’ve had to tap earlier and had a shorter season. From February 1 to February 14 was a crucial time in our area because you had slightly warmer days with cold nights during this period. But tapping was good a week beyond that period. In fact, I was tapping for 27 days and that’s been my longest season.”

This year’s yield was 0.309 gallon per tap, an 83 percent increase from last year. Maple syrup collection started on Feb. 2, three days earlier than last year. In Ohio the season lasted an average of 31 days, up 13 days from last year.

The best news for these producers is that the average price per gallon has increased $2.40 since last season.

“The increase still baffles a lot of producers,” Becker said. “I’ve spoken with those in Vermont and Wisconsin and nobody remembers it being this productive. Some point to the strange weather patterns. Some say it’s the El Nina. Either way conditions were just right for those of us in Ohio.”
According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in Columbus, Ohio temperatures were reported to be favorable for optimal sap flow in all states. On average, the tapping season lasted 32 days, compared with 23 days last year.

The earliest tap flow reported was Jan. 10 by producers in New York. Vermont ranks number one in this category while New York was second. Ohio ranks sixth in the nation, just behind Pennsylvania.

Some producers tap by the calendar, routinely tapping each year on or before a certain date, such as the second or third week of February. Others, particularly those with a relatively small number of taps who collect with buckets or bags, watch the weather. When suitable weather is predicted, they tap.

Sap flow from a tapped tree will not occur every day throughout the tapping season; only when conditions are right.

“Sap can be collected for syrup production until just before tree buds begin to expand,” Becker said, “usually sometime in late March or early April, depending on the weather and location in the state. Sap collected and processed into syrup after bud expansion begins results in a bitter taste.”

According to Becker, trees should be at least 10-12 inches in diameter before they are tapped. The number of tap holes a tree can support depends on its diameter and its health and vigor. And while the tapping process is not rocket science, he said there are several guidelines to go by when pursuing this venture.

“In recent years many syrup producers have gone to a more conservative tapping guideline, placing one tap in trees 12 to 18 inches in diameter, two taps in trees 19 to 25 inches in diameter and three taps in trees larger than 25 inches,” he said.

“This conservative tapping level is particularly recommended for trees that have been subjected to severe stresses in recent years from such factors as insect defoliation and drought. Reducing the number of taps does not result in a proportional reduction in sap collected, because with fewer taps the sap yield per tap hole generally increases substantially.”