Last year, Vermont produced just shy of 900,000 gallons of syrup, while New York produced just over 300,000 gallons.
My last year was 3 years ago, and I made just 100 gallons. I was 67, cut all my wood, collected every drop of sap (260 taps on tubing, 120 taps to buckets) and except for the very occasional visit from George Purtil, boil every damn drop of it. I still remember when it was fun, and was on the board of the New England Maple Producers Assoc.
The lightest syrup, is usually thought to be the first sap run, but historically, that usually isn't the case. Color is directly proportional to the sugar content of the sap (Higher sugar= less time 'on the fire'. Sugar is carbon, so the longer it's exposed to the heat the darker it gets) Sometimes, the sugar content of the sap goes up after a few days of running.
If Vermont boiled all the sap they collected, their total syrup production would be much higher, but since they're only down the road from Canada, lots of farms ship sap over the border. 25 years ago they were getting 14-15 cents a gallon. All those Cabot milk tankers heading North weren't carrying milk. My supply house, in new Hampshire, BOILS 120,000 gallons of sap PER DAY. Their major production is not syrup, but maple sugar, which is just syrup, boiled longer.
Anyone in the know will tell you New England Syrup is, far and away, the best of the best. (My very Humble Opinion)
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