Producers in the Midwest described the maple syrup season as anywhere from good to very disappointing.

Many taps from a week-long streak of mild temperatures were pulled close to the middle of March. Some producers, though, were hoping for a final surge of sap to at least get close to last year’s production.

“It’s been very inconsistent. One of the worst seasons I can remember,” said Ben Hoksch, of Front Yard Sugar Maple Syrup Co. in Ames, Iowa.

Hoksch said he increased his taps from 100 to 175 this year but produced nine less gallons of syrup unless there’s a late sap run. “It’s either been too hot or too cold.  We haven’t been getting the daily fluctuations in temperature,” he said.

Sean Delaney said production at his sugar house in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan was nowhere close to normal. He had just 120 gallons of finished syrup on March 23.

Delaney said he normally has twice as much syrup by then and produces about 1,000 gallons before the sap quits flowing. “This is probably the least we’ve made at this time of the season,” he said.

The owner of Delaney’s Wood Fired Maple Syrup in Rose City also cited lack of daily temperatures above and below freezing for his mostly dry taps.

“You need that good 20 degrees at night and we haven’t been getting it,” he said.

However, Delaney was still cautiously optimistic about the spigots opening from his taps before it’s too late.

“When it turns on within a week’s time you can make a lot of syrup,” he said.

Some of his syrup is offered inside the storefront at his farm and other small retailers in his area.

Delaney said he also provides syrup in bulk amounts sometimes to other producers.

More of a normal season was reported by producers like Rob Hough in Mt. Morris, Ill., about 40 miles south of the Wisconsin border.

“The season was really unremarkable with the exception of a couple of big runs,” he said. Hough said the biggest run he ever had in his more than 20 years of making syrup was 325 gallons of sap collected on March 14.

The owner of Hough’s Maple Lane Farm also said inconsistent weather was a challenge with sap flows stopping for consecutive days on several occasions.

He had to sanitize his stainless-steel holding tank once to eliminate bacteria that formed between sap collections.

Hough said his total syrup production of 30 gallons was similar to last year from the 200 taps in his silver, sugar and black maple trees.

Producers in northern Indiana also seemed fairly pleased with their outputs.

John Loucks said he expected to have his usual 700 gallons of syrup after boiling the rest of his sap at his sugar house outside New Paris.

He reported good sap flows after tapping his trees in late February and pulling the taps about three weeks later. “We had a pretty good season. I’m happy,” he said.

Lamoine Beachler said he had no complaints about the season at his northern Indiana sugar bush.

The middle of March is when Beachler pulled the 3,000 taps from his maple trees in Claypool and quit boiling for people who bring him sap from their 5,000 taps.

Beachler said the quality of the sap he was collecting toward the end of his season diminished noticeably from an extended lack of freezing temperatures. “We were just making pretty strong-tasting syrup,” he said.

His syrup is sold out of his sugar house and other retail outlets as well as farmers markets and to other producers.

Beachler said he finished the season with about 2,800 gallons of syrup, which is at the lower end of his average production.

Nevertheless, Beachler said he’s just happy to be making syrup regardless of the amount.

“I’m reluctant to give a grade on the season. If you start grading a season you start to grade the creator who gave it to us and we don’t do that. Whatever he gives, we’re glad for it,” he said.