Warming puts squeeze on N.E. maple syrup

[wicket]

My family's maple syrup production was off by half last year (the worst year we'd ever had).

LINK

March marks the start of sugar season in New England, when farmers tap thawing maple trees for their sap. But some worry that a warming climate is endangering their future.

Long skeptical of claims that the planet is warming as a result of human activity -- the release of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels -- syrup-maker Doug Rose said he's started to wonder.

"I've always been, 'Oh, global warming, I don't know about that.' But now I do think we need to start thinking about it, because we are seeing changes," Rose said in an interview at Green Mountain Sugar House in Ludlow, a rustic Vermont town settled in 1761. "We're seeing production go down, we really are."

His concerns, shared by several syrup-makers around the state, were piqued by a study by the Proctor Maple Research Center at the University of Vermont, which showed that the month-long season has gotten about three days shorter over the past four decades.

"What we're seeing is about a 10 percent reduction in the season," said Timothy Perkins, the center's director.

If that trend continues, it could mean that one day sugaring -- the process of boiling the sap down to sweet, aromatic, amber maple syrup -- would no longer be economically feasible in the region.

[dysfunctional press]

1. most "maple" syrup these days is just maple flavored hfcs...

i only buy the 100% pure stuff- it's my favorite topping for ice cream.

[wicket]

2. If you are ever in need of any...

....PM me and I can put you in touch with my mom who handles selling it. DUer Botany bought some and he loved it :)

:hi: