A pair of Perth County maple syrup producers are cautiously optimistic about the season after an earlier start.
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“The flow has been good,” McCully’s Hill Farm owner Dennis Aarts said. “Our concern is we’d like to keep making it longer, but we need those freezing nights. If we get too many nights in a row where you have high temperatures during the day and it doesn’t freeze at night, the trees will shut down and get ready for their next phase of the season.”
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Aarts said he usually taps the maples at his two St. Marys’ properties in late February. There might typically be a few days or even a week of sap flowing at the end of January or start of February, but warmer-than-normal conditions in 2024 meant the clear liquid was running steady around Groundhog Day.
That’s already yielded more than 800 liters of syrup — surpassing the 2023 season when the first run was missed due to damage in the bush. Aarts would like to double that amount, but it’s up to Mother Nature to co-operate.
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That’s what happened for a long stretch in 2013 when the season lasted until almost mid-April. Anything close to a repeat would also benefit McCully’s farm tours and pancake brunches every weekend until Easter.
“So far it’s good,” Aarts said. “What will make it a really good season is if it keeps going another couple weeks. Typical farming at the mercy of Mother Nature. Take what you can get and do your best.”
It’s a similar situation at Wiebe’s Maple Products in Fullarton.
“We’ve had years where we wondered when we should tap,” said Brendan Wiebe, who owns the family business with two brothers. “It’s a bit of a gamble. You don’t want to go too early or go too late. We haven’t tapped this early for 15 years.”
Wiebe had 4,500 taps running by Feb. 3.
“You can just get out and rocking and rolling a little earlier,” he said. “Potentially, it could mean a long season.”
The other potential is that volatile weather conditions stunt the progress that has resulted in more than 4,500 liters of syrup, which is half of what was made in 2023.
“Last year was second to none,” Wiebe said. “We’ve never had that.”
The potential is there for a full crop, Wiebe added, and another 2,500 liters. He said taps typically run for 30 to 50 days.
“That’s all we need,” he said. “If the year leaves now, it would be a failure because of last year.”
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