The Tapline Semiannual Newsletter of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association November 2014

Transcription

1 The Tapline Semiannual Newsletter of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association November 2014 Ohio Maple Expert to Speak at Annual Meeting Gary Graham, Extension Specialist in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University Extension Center at Wooster, Ohio, will make three major presentations at IMSA s annual meeting to be held Saturday December 6, 2014 in Columbia City. Graham is an expert in the production of maple syrup in Ohio, and he speaks frequently to maple producers about maple syrup production and sugar bush management. During his visit with us, Dr. Graham will describe the new international maple grading system, he will talk about hydrometers and their use to determine syrup density, and he will do calibration checks for producers who bring their hydrometers and syrup grading kits with them to the meeting. Grading System is Here Between the maple producing states and within the Canadian provinces there were half a dozen ways to describe the grade of Pure Maple Syrup. In 2003 representatives from the US and Canada started to discuss how to make it easier for the consumer and for the packers and wholesalers branching out into the world market place. Eleven years later it s here. Graham will cover the new standards and how they came to the descriptors and place they are today. Hydrometers Hydrometers are a must have tool for sugarmakers. You should have more than one as they always break as the worst possible time and an accurate backup hydrometer is as important as the primary one you use. Hydrometers can make you money or make you lose money too. How to use and proper care are often over looked. Making sure they are accurate is often not considered either. This session will go over the basics of how to use this very important tool in the sugar house. Hydrometer and Grading Kit Testing Hydrometers are vital in every sugaring operation so be sure they remain accurate. The papers can shift and readings will be off, which could run into finishing off too low of density and syrup could mold or ferment. If finished with too high of density the syrup will crystallize. Bring your hydrometers and Vermont Temporary Maple Syrup Grading Kits Indiana maple syrup makers gather at their 2014 annual meeting to conduct business and hear from Ohio maple specialist Gary Graham with you to the meetings and Dr. Graham will check them for accuracy. This is a convenient way for you to prepare for the 2015 season knowing that you will be finishing your syrup at the proper density and proper color grade. For the past 25 years his research and teaching efforts in the fields of conservation and land management have emphasized the importance of utilizing best management practices in all land use situations. In 2001 Gary signed on to become the Extension maple specialist working with the Ohio maple syrup industry. Gary s Doctoral Research at The Ohio State University was on the Ohio Maple Syrup Industry Trends. Other maple research in- Ohio speaker (continued on p 2) Save The Date Saturday, December 6, 2014 Annual Meeting of the Indiana Maple Syrup Ass n in Columbia City The latest information about IMSA is always available at the Indiana Maple Syrup Association s web site.

2 President s Column Dave Hamilton, President, IMSA Weather-wise, it has been an unusual year. The winter began very cold and snowy for the first two months followed by a very good March as far as sugar makers are concerned and cooler than normal temperatures in the spring and summer. About the only summer weather we had was in September. Wet and cold seems to be the theme for October. As I write this column, Keith & Susan Ruble and Carol and I are making plans for the 3,000 mile round trip to the North American Maple Syrup Council meeting in Nova Scotia. We should see some beautiful scenery as we drive to the Northeast. Keith will have a report on this event at our December meeting and I hope to survive as NAMSC President. Melvin Hawks and I have been making repairs to the tubing system in the gravity woods as we replace drops and tubing as needed. We are encasing much of our tubing in Squirrel Guard to prevent damage from those pesky critters. Last year we did the vacuum woods in this way Dave Hamilton, President of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association. photo L. Yoder with spectacular results. Our volume of sap increased dramatically and we seldom had to spend time hunting and repairing leaks. A couple of our long time members opted for new equipment this fall. Both Phil Hanner and Garry Sink are expected to have shoulder surgery soon. We wish them good recovery before the sap runs. Plans have been finalized for the annual meeting in Columbia City for December 6. I hope that all of you can join us for a predictably great time. DAVE HAMILTON Ohio speaker (continued from p 1) terests are on super sweet maples, sugarbush management and sustainable tapping. Since 2001 Gary has developed and delivered hundreds of formal maple related programs across the United States and Canadian maple syrup production region. He works with the Ohio Maple Syrup industry by organizing annual meetings and field days to provide educational programming for producers. He serves as an Ex Officio on the Ohio Maple Producers Association (OMPA) board of directors and as past editor and publisher of their quarterly newsletter. Gary serves on the International Maple Extension Advisory board, is a board member of the International Maple Syrup Institute IMSI, and also serves on committees for the North American Maple Syrup Council (NAMSC). Gary was born and raised on a hog and grain farm in Wayne County Ohio. When not in the woods for maple or other forest related programs he is there hunting and exploring. Officers and Directors of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association Ron Burnett (2015) Treasurer, South 9741 W Baseline Rd Paragon, IN (765) ronburnett88@gmail.com Roy Childers (2014) Central 3509 West River Rd Peru, IN (765) pchilders_99@yahoo.com David Hamilton (2014) President, Central 6025 N 100 E New Castle, IN (765) dave@rutherfordsugarcamp.com Art Harris (2016) South 99E CR 350N Greencastle, IN aharris@link2000.net Bill Owen (2016) Secretary, Northern 0535 S 500 E Avilla, IN (260) bkowen60@gmail.com Keith Ruble (2015) At Large 397 E Sutliff Dr Terre Haute, IN (812) Brent Tubbs (2016) At Large 740 W 700 S Hudson, IN (260) br.tubbs@hotmail.com Florence Williams Director Emeritus 1152 West Egg Farm Rd Rockville, IN (765) Members of the Board of Directors of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association are elected for 3 year terms at the IMSA s annual meeting held the first Saturday of December. Directors elect the officers of the association. Phil Hanner (2016) At Large 6500 N 825 W Norman, IN (812) pgh6500@gmail.com Garry Sink (2015) V-President, Northern Zubrick Road Roanoke, IN (260) gnsink@yahoo.com The Tapline is the semiannual newsletter for members of the Indiana Maple Syrup Association, Larry Yoder, editor, larryry@goshen.edu 2 Keith Ruble serves as delegate on the North American Maple Syrup Council for the the Indiana Maple Syrup Association through 2015.

3 Alyssa Garnett, 2014 Indiana State Fair Queen, enjoys a sample of our Indiana pure maple syrup as IMSA member Kevin Hart and Alyssa s grandmother await her verdict. The Sugar Shack was a popular spot. WHTR Channel 13 also stopped by to interview Kevin. photo L. Yoder STATE FAIR REPORT: DAVE HAMILTON I wish to thank some 50 people who volunteered their time at the Hoosier Sugar Shack in the Pioneer Village at the 2014 Indiana State Fair this past August. We welcomed some who volunteered for the first time, and they had such a great experience they said they would be back again next year. We even had a surprise volunteer from Maine! Dale Forrester who is from Michigan, but makes syrup in Maine, worked the crowds with great enthusiasm. Our volunteers told about IMSA and Indiana maple syrup as many of the 955,000 people who attended the fair visited the Sugar Shack to ask questions and purchase maple products. IMSA was able to sell over 600 gallons of Pure Indiana Maple Syrup and plenty of confections. Our thanks to Indiana producers Silas BeachIer and Art and Becky Harris from whom we purchased syrup. We are particularly grateful to Art & Becky for making the maple cream, sugar, & candy that we sold to our visitors. They also delivered the items and packed about 50 extra gallons of syrup near the end of the fair when our shelves were getting bare. We sold out of most items on the last three days of the fair except for some glass. We emptied the shelves about 6:00 PM on the last day of the fair after offering last minute special deals to sell the few items that remained. We used 25,000 spoons for samples during the fair. That translates into that many visitors to the Sugar Shack. By comparison, the new beer/wine display logged 48,000 visitors. Syrup and confection sales at the Sugar Shack during the Indiana State Fair is IMSA s annual fundraising project that helps to keep membership affordable for all, subsidize the meal at the annual meeting, bring in nationally recognized speakers for that meeting, provide materials to our members such as nutrition cards, posters and member tags, as well as represent Indiana producers through our delegate and alternate at the North American Maple Syrup Council s annual meeting. Our thanks to those listed below who volunteered this year, and my apologies if I left anyone off of this list: Tony Basiewicz, Silas Beachler, John Borkholder, Wayne Borkholder, Ron and Carol Burnett, Pam and Roy Childers. Richard Cline, Lee Ann Evans, Zane Fisher, Dale Forrester, Jack Gaby, Dave and Carol Hamilton, Phil Hanner, Emmett Hanner, Art and Becky Harris, Kevin and Lisa Hart And Their Two Children, Melvin and Karann Hawks, Keith Hawks, Larry Hedrick, Norman and Clara Kauffman, Eli Kuhns, Elise Matthews, John Miller, Wilbur Miller, Bill and Kim Owen, Dixie and Jerry Pruitt, John and Deloris Smith, Bill Stockberger, Brent Tubbs, David and Ruth Whetstone, David Wirth, and Larry Yoder. Whitley County Agricultural Museum Maple Display Part of 2014 IMSA Meeting During the December 6 meeting, IMSA members will have the opportunity to see the maple sugaring display that is part of the Whitley County Agricultural Museum and 4-H Learning Center, located adjacent to our meeting hall. Thanks to IMSA members Mary Juillerat-Wolfe and Ron Myer, an exhibit of maple sugaring equipment is part of the museum s featured displays. Sugar camps were very plentiful in Whitley county from the 1900 s to the early 1950 s. Sugar making was an important cash crop and the first crop of the year. Many of the items on display are from Mary Juillerat-Wolfe and her family. Mary s grandfather, Milo Snodgrass, had a sugar camp as did her father, William. Mary grew up sugaring; and when she married, her husband, Rex, continued the family tradition. Ron Myer (left) and Mary Juillerat-Wolfe look over the Whitley County Mueum s maple syrup exhibit. photo R. Myer 3

4 Indiana s 2014 Maple Production Shortly after the close of the 2014 Maple Syrup season, 135 questionnaires were sent to all known producers of maple syrup in Indiana. The number of questionnaires sent this year was slightly lower since some individuals from the 2013 survey indicated that they no longer produced syrup or wished not to participate. Seventy two individuals promptly responded to the questionnaire resulting in a 53% response rate, which was higher than the 45% response rate in I want to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to the Indiana Maple Syrup Association (IMSA) for their assistance and partnership in completing the 2014 survey. For the past couple of years, IMSA has covered the postage costs in mailing out the surveys to producers. In today s world of shrinking budgets, partnerships are essential to getting projects like this completed. For the sake of comparison of similar climatic regions, the results were divided into two major regions. A line along U.S. Route 40 bisected the State into a Northern region and a Southern region. Fourteen questionnaires were returned from the southern region and 58 came from the northern region. Of the producers that responded to the questionnaire, nearly 85% of the respondents produced syrup in 2014, slightly higher than the 80% reported in Eleven producers from the southern region and 49 producers from the northern region reported production in Just over 75% of the state s total syrup production of 12,990 gallons came from 11 large producers. After a record year in 2013, this year s production was more in line with 2012 s production of just over 13,000 gallons. The 2014 production was Figure 1. Total Indiana Syrup Production a little over 42% lower than the 22,405 gallons produced in Northern producers accounted for 11,989 gallons while southern producers generated 1,001 gallons. Figure 1 shows the total number of gallons produced each year from There are 45 counties in the state that have at least one active maple syrup producer. Elkhart County was once again the county with the most reported sugar camps at 24. Kosciusko County continues as home to the largest sugar camp in the state with Putnam County has the second largest producer The average state-wide opening date was 2/25/14 and the closing date was 3/29/143. Regionally, the average opening dates were 3/1/14 and 2/10/14 for the north and south respectively. The average closing date was 3/31/14 for the north and 3/22/13 for the south. The average amount of sugar water (sap) needed to produce a gallon of syrup was 39 gallons in the north and 46 gallons in the south. The state average was 40.6 gallons of sap to produce a gallon of syrup. These numbers were slightly lower than those reported in Using these figures, we can estimate that approximately 527,394 gallons of sugar water was collected in The average amount of sap needed in 2014 to produce a gallon of syrup may not be wholly accurate, as some producers do not maintain accurate records of sap inflow. For those camps that did produce syrup in 2014, the average amount of syrup produced per camp was 216 gallons, significantly lower than the 350 gallons per camp reported in One must remember that 2013 was a record year. Although most sugar water was produced at the producer s own sugar bush, in 2014 producers purchased or produced for others over 76,808 gallons of sap. This was considerably lower than the 453,000 gallons reported in Some 44,355 taps were set in 2014, a 29% decrease from About 24% of the state s sugar water was collected in a total of 17,407 buckets. Statewide, the amount of sugar water collected solely by buckets accounted for 3,091 gallons of syrup. A reported 38 Indiana maple syrup producers used an average of 458 buckets in their collection operations. 4 Figure 2 compares the total number of taps used annually from 2010 to present. Figure 2. Total Indiana Taps Buckets continue to remain the most popular way to collect syrup regardless of the region. The largest single producer utilizing buckets hung 3,800 buckets in the northern region and 164 buckets in the southern half. Figure 3 compares the number of producers that employed a particular tapping method in Figure 3. Types of Taps Used in Indiana 2014 The use of plastic bags on the part of 21 producers decreased from 16,407 in 2013 to 7,423 in Many of these producers also used buckets and or tubing as well. Producers using only bags to collect sap averaged approximately 550 taps. Those using only bags for sap collection accounted for 999 gallons of syrup in On a regional basis, those using plastic sap collection bags were split pretty evenly between the two regions. Ten northern producers used 1,215 bags to produce 405 gallons of syrup. Three producers in the southern region using only plastic bags produced 768 gallons and set 4,720 bags for collection. A number of producers utilize tubing for sugar water collection. Others are slowly changing over to tubing as terrain, financing and results permit. Across the state, 17 producers (14 from the northern region and 3 from the southern region) used over 295,000 feet (56 miles) of tub- Syrup Report (continued on p 5)

5 Syrup Report (continued from p 4) ing for collection purposes in Those using tubing produced 7,950 gallons of syrup. The statewide average price received for a retail gallon of syrup was $41.08 which is slightly higher than the $40.52 for The average price per retail gallon in the south was $ (It should be noted that only 1 survey from the south contained price data.) Northern producers averaged $40.80 per retail gallon. The average statewide price received for a quart of retail syrup was $ For the past couple of years more surveys were returned this year with information about pricing per pint. The state average per retail pint was $8.10. The statewide wholesale price averaged $37.40 per gallon. Figure 4 indicates the average retail price per gallon of syrup since for the past 5 years. Figure 4. Average Price per Gallon It is likely that the statistics gathered in our 2014 maple syrup production questionnaire do not reflect the true income generated by Indiana s producers. The total income from syrup production in Indiana was estimated by multiplying the state s average price/per gallon by the production for The result is a gross income of $533,629. However, if one factors in the syrup that was consumed by the producers family, given away, or simply not reported, the calculated dollar figure may very well conservatively grow to over $640,000. (Ironically this is about the same as 2012.). Assuming this figure to be realistic, the average dollar return per tap hole is $14.43, lower than the $17.56 reported in the 2013 maple syrup producer s survey. Figure 5 shows the estimated economic impact for maple syrup production during the past 5 years. Sales do not appear to be a limiting factor for Indiana maple product producers; rather the inability to produce enough syrup due to the unfavorable weather and/or short tapping seasons were the greatest impediments to finding our maple fortunes. Figure 5. Estimted Economic Impact for Maple Syrup Production Prime tapping conditions center on below freezing temperatures of an evening with a fairly fast thaw in the mornings which normally allows for good syrup flow. According to those who commented on the season, 15% of the producers reported the 2014 season to be above average, while 51% rated it as average, and 33% found it to be below average. A short season and abnormally cold temperatures for long periods of time were the primary reasons for an average to below average season. Overall, most of the produced syrup is sold at a retail level. Of those who reported production, 28% of those respondents indicated that at least a portion of their production was given away or consumed domestically. These producers tend to be smaller in scope and production. Packaging preferences show that the majority favor retail sales in gallon containers. Fewer favor quarts, with the remainder sold in smaller units. A few producers offer maple sugar, creams, candies, cookies, etc., but apparently these maple products do not account for substantial percentages of any one producer s sales. 5 We are all aware that each sugar bush has unique characteristics and that no two bushes produce alike. Although Indiana is a relatively small geographic area, the variation in weather is significant as evidenced by prior years. As reported earlier, conditions in 2014 were about average to slightly below average. Some 45 respondents stated they would like to be listed in the Indiana Maple Syrup Producers Brochure. As time and funds permit, we are hoping to prepare an updated brochure. Additionally, we believe it would be beneficial to have Indiana generic maple syrup articles on hand for the usual barrage of requests for maple information and features from reporters for local newspapers and other media come next February, I sincerely thank all the maple producers for their prompt responses to my questionnaire. I have updated our maple database and will continue to be a contact for Indiana maple products. Please remember the data compiled in this report is only as good as the data received. To be able to more accurately report maple syrup production figures, we ll continue to need a high response rate. Although our time is limited for personal visits to your operation, we do welcome your calls and inquiries on all facets of maple production. Special forest products such as maple syrup contribute substantially to many rural folk s income while offering wholesome therapy at the same time.

6 Photo Highlights from the 2014 Indiana State Fair The Sugar Shack was a busy place throughout the fair Art Harris shows the location of sugar camps around the state. I ll have a taste Becky Harris, Art harris and Lisa Hart were kept busy at the sales counter when Kevin Hart (below) was passing out the samples. photos L. Yoder 6 Lisa Hart (right) is the proud owner of a new dress created for the fair by Pioneer Village s long time costume designer.