It’s time to play “Taps” for this sugaring season.
Most maple sugar houses are wrapping up operations, as the weather is becoming too warm for the sugaring process. Maple syrup producers require freezing cold nights and warmer days draw to sap from maple trees.
South Face Farm in Ashfield is finishing its final year of full-scale operations, as owners Tom McCrumm and wife Judy Haupt plan to downsize. McCrumm spent some time boiling sap — which visually resembles water — on Tuesday, and said that might be the final time he boils this year.
“Our industry depends 100 percent on the weather, so predicting days to boil is like predicting the weather,” McCrumm said. “If it’s tomorrow, I might be able to predict something, but I can’t predict a week from now.”
McCrumm explained fluctuation in the weather permits the maple trees to have greater internal pressure, which causes the sap to run if the tree is tapped. He described this season as “very good to excellent” and better than last year, in terms of production.
“This is farming. This is agriculture. A good year gets mixed with a lot of mediocre ones,” he said. “As farmers, we’re really hoping next year is going to be better.”
The downsize will include closure of the sugarhouse’s seasonal restaurant, which is typically open six weekends a year. This will be the restaurant’s final weekend. McCrumm said he plans to decrease his production by roughly 50 percent.
McCrumm said he does not yet know how many gallons of syrup he produced this year, though he measured 33,000 gallons of sap. He also said he has 1,600 taps, all via pipeline.
Sugaring at Gould’s Sugar House on the Mohawk Trail in Shelburne ended on March 24. Helen E. Gould said it wasn’t a great year for production because it was often cold all day on the family property. The restaurant, she said, has been incredibly busy and will remain open until April 24.
“We have great clientele,” Gould said.
There have been sugaring operations at 570 Mohawk Trail since 1960, she said.
When asked how many gallons of syrup were produced this year, daughter Linda Gould simply said, “Not enough.” The business has 8,000 to 10,000 taps, 3,000 of which are buckets, while the reminder are pipeline.
Howard Boyden of Boyden Brothers Maple sugarhouse in Conway said he made 977 gallons of maple syrup this year, up from 865 last year. This is in addition to 1,000 pounds of both maple candy and maple cream. He finished boiling on March 23.
“As a season, it was slightly better than average. We have no complaints at all,” he said. “It was very intense — I will tell you that.”
Boyden explained the north side of his maple trees typically remain frozen, while the south side thaws. But, due to the warm winter, the trees rarely froze, meaning both sides flowed with sap.
“The Valentine’s Day weekend was the only time it dipped below zero,” he said.
Winton Pitcoff, the coordinator of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, said this was an early but strong year for sugarers.
“As with every year, everything is dependent on the weather. If you tapped early, you got an early run,” he said, adding that he has heard good things from sugarers. “Some did average, some had an above-average season. It was by no means a bad season.”
Pitcoff, a sugaring hobbyist, said maple syrup provides an important component to the Massachusetts economy. He said about 75 percent of the syrup produced in the state comes from Franklin County, drawing in a lot of tourists.
He said 75,000 gallons of the gooey goodness were made in Massachusetts last year — that’s $5 million to $6 million in raw product alone.
McCrumm, who moved onto South Face Farm with his wife 30 years ago, said his sugarhouse’s restaurant will close for good at 3 p.m. on Sunday. He said everything in the kitchen and restaurant is for sale. He also said he will miss seeing his regular customers, but it is time to downsize his workload.
“I’m 70 and I want to do some other things other than work my butt off,” he said. “But we’re not going anywhere.”
You can reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 257.
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