On Monday, April 14, Cornell University Uihlein Maple Research Forest Director Adam Wild displays samples from each grade of maple syrup produced at the sugarhouse in Lake Placid. There are many factors that influence the color of the syrup, including the microbes in the sap. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

LAKE PLACID — There’s a lot about maple syrup production that lies outside human control — the snowpack, the coldest temperatures, the speed of the spring thaw. And so, when it comes to maximizing syrup yields, local producers need to focus on the things they can control.

This is a part of the work that Director Adam Wild does at the Cornell University Uihlein Maple Research Forest on Bear Cub Lane in Lake Placid.

One of Wild’s projects is finding ways to keep large amounts of maple syrup cool after it flows from the tapped trees. This allows him to store sap over several days (and choose a time to boil it that works better for his schedule) instead of having to constantly boil sap as it comes in.

It’s important to cool the sap because as it gets warmer, it tends to have more microbes. At a certain point, these microbes can cause the sap to spoil and develop off-flavors.

Wild said data shows an overall increase in maple production. He credits this to better techniques and equipment. Even things like the timing of tapping the trees and using new, clean spouts can increase the amount of sap that is harvested.

Cornell University Uihlein Maple Research Forest Director Adam Wild cleans a buildup of minerals from the filter system at the sugarhouse in Lake Placid on Monday, April 14. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

He said he gets asked often about how climate patterns are affecting maple production. In many ways, this still remains to be seen. To help answer this question, Wild collects data from the Uihlein Maple Research Forest, which is compiled along with data from other locations in New York, around the U.S., and even in Quebec. The data includes rainfall, tree pressure, atmospheric pressure, sap sweetness and humidity.

This data can be viewed at tinyurl.com/yyenutms.

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Every last drop

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Cornell University Uihlein Maple Research Forest Director Adam Wild stirs filter aid, a type of food-grade diatomaceous earth, into freshly boiled maple syrup at the Lake Placid sugarhouse on Monday, April 14. The filter aid helps attract minerals such as calcium and potassium that are then filtered out of the syrup. (News photo — Grace McIntyre)

Overall, Wild said this season has been “OK.” It was off to a rocky start with a sudden thaw in March, but temperatures have been pretty cool since then.

“It won’t be a record-breaking year,” Wild said. “But it won’t be a terrible year in this area.”

His goal is to produce around 3,000 gallons. As of Monday, April 14, with at least a week left in the season, he estimates they’ve produced around 2,200 gallons. Wild thinks they’ll end up a little short of a full crop of syrup, but not too far off.

At the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, it also hasn’t been a record-breaking year in terms of syrup production. Shannon Surdyk said they’ve produced around 130 gallons of syrup so far, which is less than last year but still around average. However, there was one day at the end of March when a particularly warm day and night resulted in a record sap day — 1,200 gallons of it.

“It was the most sap I’ve ever seen come in in a single day in the history of the Wild Center’s project” Surdyk said. “So we had a really big rush.”

The next week, things slowed down. There were days when no sap was running because the wind chill never allowed the trees to warm up enough. This, combined with the fact that the Wild Center receives sap from all over Tupper Lake, from trees in a variety of conditions, made for an unpredictable season. Surdyk said they expect to have their final boil this week, before switching over to bottling the syrup.

“The season was odd this year,” she said. “It wasn’t as predictable as it normally is.”

At the Cornell station, it has been a more “traditional” winter and maple season, especially compared with the last few years, according to Wild. Last year, New York saw an abnormally warm and short winter. This worked out all right in the North Country because the moderately cold temperatures made for a longer season. However, production in other parts of the state suffered.

This winter was a good year when in terms of snowpack, which is important because it insulates the soil and helps keep the roots from freezing. Wild says this factor might not always translate directly to syrup production in a given year, but it helps the long-term health of the trees.

This year, across New York, Wild is seeing mixed results. Central New York warmed up faster than the North Country has, so their production has suffered more than here. In maple syrup production, a gradual thaw is ideal. Nights should be below freezing, and daytime temperatures need to be cold, but not too cold.

“Everybody wants it to be 60 or 70 right now,” Wild said, but they’re just hoping the cool temperature stick around for just a bit longer.

For Lake Placid, the National Weather Service predicts a low of 22 Thursday night, high of 55 Friday, low of 44 Friday night, high of 60 Saturday, low of 32 Saturday night and high of 48 on Sunday.

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U.S. maple production

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New York typically produces the second highest amount of maple syrup per state in the United States every year, while Vermont is always the top producer and Maine is usually the third-highest producer.

The U.S. produced 5.86 million gallons of maple syrup in 2024, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, compared to 4.179 million gallons in 2023.

Vermont produced 3.108 million gallons in 2024, compared to 2.045 million gallons in 2023.

New York produced 846,000 gallons in 2024, compared to 750,000 gallons in 2023.

Maine produced 701,000 gallons in 2024, compared to 470,000 gallons in 2023.

Canada is the biggest producer of maple syrup in the world, having made 19.9 million gallons in 2024, according to Statistics Canada, with the province of Quebec making 18 million gallons alone.

For more information about maple production in New York state, visit the New York State Maple Producers Association online at nysmaple.com.