Warmer winters threatens maple syrup production in Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH — This past winter was our warmest in over 90 years. The recent change in our climate affects not just humans, but also the various goods we produce. Maple syrup producers in Pennsylvania had an especially poor season due to the consistent warmth and an earlier start to the growing season.

“A lot of Pennsylvania was done by early to mid-March. Most of the time we make syrup into late March, and sometimes into the first week in April,” said Kyle Dewees from Whiskey Hollow.

The process of getting maple syrup to your kitchen table begins in the maple trees during winter. The first step is extracting the sap. This process requires night-time lows just below freezing and sunny afternoons in the 40s to get the sap flowing. When it’s time, small holes are drilled into the trees and a small metal spout or “spile” is tapped into the hole which collects the sap underneath. Ideally, there’s about a 6 to 8-week window to work with. However, mild weather can disrupt this process, limiting the number of days to tap.

“The trees, when it’s above freezing like that all the time, the buds open faster on the trees. Once those buds open up, the process in the trees changes,” Dewees said.

While producers are still making syrup they have to pay more attention to the weather and be ready to tap earlier in the season, which could now be as soon as early January. Dewees estimates that sap yield was down 60-70% across the state and while there’s no big impact to consumers yet, the future is uncertain when it comes to production and the cost of it.

“I often wonder long term if the season gets to a point that it’s too short, will producers decide it’s even feasible to even...will producers stop trying to make syrup,” Dewees said.

Winter is our fastest warming season. Back in the late 1970s, the average winter temperature in Pittsburgh was somewhere in the mid to upper 20s. Now, our average winter temperature is about 10 degrees higher. This makes life difficult for industries like maple producers that rely on cold weather. But it’s not all bad news. Dewees says they’ve started to plant more maple trees and use new tools like vacuums to maximize their sap yield, all a part of adjustments industries have to make to fight against the warming seasons.

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