Mixed Maple Syrup Season in New Hampshire

When the “official” sugar season started with Governor John Lynch on March 12th this spring, maple sugarers across New Hampshire worried and hoped as they do every spring. The governor tapped a tree with his wife in Canterbury as a crowd of about a hundred people cheered them on, wishing the weather to cooperate and for the sap to flow.

In New Hampshire, maple sugaring is one of our most honored traditions and one of our most famous offerings to the rest of the country. It is truly a finicky science dependant so much upon the whims of Mother Nature. Of all of the agricultural crops, it is probably the most temperature sensitive. The results of seasons can make or break sugar houses and can drastically affect both the price and availability of your favorite grade.

Now that it is past tax time, much of the results are in. Was it a good season? Don Lassonde, secretary of the New Hampshire Maple Producers Association (NHMPA) said, “all in all it was a pretty good year.” Overall he gauged it to be a better year for producers than last year but noted that it varied for some producers. The weather was not conducive to a lot of producers in the northern part of the state. Lassonde noted that, “a lot of folks couldn’t even get into the woods because of the amount of snow and the wind was also a problem for some because the trees feel the cold just like you and I do and don’t produce sap.”

In comparison to years past, syrup production has still fallen for some producers. For Lassonde, things started to trail off ten years ago. When he used to do eighteen boils (sessions of boiling the sap down into actual syrup), he now does about twelve. He noted that some have increased their output but from his observation, overall production is down in recent years.

Hank Peterson, a board member on the NHMPA, faired very well with a good year. As a producer himself he said that he did quite well. For the state however, “as a whole, it varied from north to south. The south is quite a bit above their average.” Peterson also pointed to the snowfall being problematic in the north, “a lot of snow meant that a lot of the lines up north were buried under even three feet of snow. They had to dig them out to get the sap to flow.”

In comparison to last year, the south did much better according to Peterson. While he pointed out the production problems the northern regions were having, a good season in the southern region and Monadnock region seemed to push overall production up from last year in his estimation.

The business can give many producers quite the headache as many in the north suffered with weak seasons. Perhaps that is one of the reasons we love maple syrup so much-because it is such a temperamental and precious thing. We value the tremendous labor that goes into the golden syrup and we recognize how unpredictable the weather can be. So, in the end and thanks to so many New Hampshire producers, it appears that we’ll still be able to enjoy that golden syrup that completes our breakfasts so well.