SAP REPORT

Dave Pettit – Chilli, Wisconsin  3/4/25

Greetings…here in Chili WI, the trees are awakening.  We have our 3400 taps installed and have spent the last week fixing leaks caused by those evil squirrels.  In the last 24 hours, as we tightened up a 1500 tap woods, we pulled a little over 1000 gallons of sap.  We have 3000 gallons to cook, but will wait a couple of days in fear of the power going out with the heavy snow and high winds.  Can’t wait for the maple shed to be filled with that awesome smell of maple syrup!

 

Don Hansen – Taylor Falls, MN  2/28/25

“Early tapping reports show little or no sap yet. There is still a solid 30-40 inches of frost and it will take at least another 5-7 days to see frost out which puts me at about March 8 to tap. Since we have all buckets(1500) I don’t like to start too early.”

 

George Gmach – Rogers, MN  2/24/25

“Sap has been a light run so far in the woods. There is no snow and the ground is still frozen in the woods. I have evaporated two small batches so far just to use the sap while fresh. Quality is excellent. A friend in Wright County has had similar results in the same weather area.”

 

George Gmach – Rogers, MN  3/10/25

“In the Rogers MN area, the sap run picked up on Friday, March 7 with .42 gallons per tap and .69 gallons on Saturday. Sunday shut down to a trickle with the lack of a freezing night on Saturday. Some of the big 24”+ trees are starting to produce. Today is supposed to hit 64 degrees, but tonight it will drop to 25. It is setting up for a big run on Tuesday. Our ratio of sap to syrup is running 36:1 overall this season. My friend in Wright County is running 560 taps and is tracking very close on production and ratio. Had honeybees checking out the sugar shack yesterday, and my neighbor found wood ticks while shed hunting in our woods.”

 

Robert Ehres – Lenox township, MI 3/09/25

“Maple acres : 80 gallons collected from 83 taps 3-8-2025 another 90 gallons collected today ! SAP is running ! This year bottled finished syrup 387oz!”

 

George Gmach – Rogers,MN  3/15/25

It has been unseasonably warm from the 9th to the 14th.  Sap has been very slow but consistent at just under a quart per tap per day.  I have evaporated daily to keep the sap fresh. After 74 degrees yesterday it is dropping to 20 degrees tonight. That should bring the sap down and set up for Sunday and Monday.  We have not had any big runs this season due to frost gradually coming out in the woods. However, we are at 1/3 of the normal annual syrup production of a gallon for every three taps. It is early to have that much.

 

Jim Adamski – Antigo,WI 3/17/25

The sap run was slow last week with the above average temperatures and limited freezing temperatures. Currently at 30 percent of a crop.

 

Don Handsen (Don’s Sugar Shack) – Taylor Falls,MN 3/17/25

Sap flow for the week of March 10 in the upper St Croix River Basin was minimal. Frost continues to hamper strong sap runs. Three gallon buckets were only quarter to half full on days when temperature swings from 26 to 56 degrees occurred.

Manganese in the sap continues to slow down the reverse osmosis process and plug membranes. Citric acid wash helps however until the frost is out completely this will continue to be a problem.

Temperatures during the week of St Patrick’s day looks promising. Everyone up here is hoping for the luck of the Irish.

Scott Walter – Richland County, WI 3/18/25

“Leftover concern from the early year of 2024 had us fully tapped (4500 taps) by the third week of February.  While we did have decent freeze/thaw cycles in early March, deep frost from a snow-free early winter hampered sap flows on north slopes.  Good sap flow started on south slopes on March 8th, but warm weather last week with a little rain finally pushed the frost from the ground, and with good freezes the nights of 3/15 and 3/16, our season really kicked off today (3/17), with good runs in all stands and a jump in sugar content (from 2.2% to 3.0%- the 3% on our home farm is the highest sugar content we’ve recorded in 15 years.  With many days last week in the 60s and even 70s, sap was cloudy by the time it hit our shack, and we were making darker syrup already on our second cook.  Sap today is running very clear and we expect to see lighter syrup once we start cooking.  It really feels like the season has finally started, and with a decent forecast the next couple of weeks, we’re hoping for a good year after all.”

Jim Adamski – Antigo,WI 3/24/25

Great run late last week. We are at 54 percent of a crop.

George Gmach – Rogers, MN 3/24/25

Looks like the next couple of days will be good with favorable temperature ranges. Last week was productive with the run on the 17th being the largest. We are at 70% of production with this morning marking the 17th firing of the evaporator (lots of small batches).

 

Don Hansen – Taylor Falls,MN 3/24/25

The sap production from the upper St. Croix River Basin during the week of March 17th was somewhat subdued, by that I mean we have 1500 buckets and 600 taps on gravity and only got 1 gallon per tap on average. The good news was that we collected 5000 gallons total over 3 days. We have yet to have a big sap run where 3-gallon buckets are full.

we still have significant frost in the woods with only the top 12 inches thawed out.

Sap is producing a medium dark color, and great carmelly flavor. The manganese problem is gone, niter is back, and Diatomaceous Earth is basically doubled in use. Changing papers in 10 inch long bank press every 40 to 50 gallons.

To summarize the week, it is like when my diesel pickup goes into “limp mode” when there is a problem. The Truck only does 25 mph in limp mode but when it’s working it does 80 mph

The sap run is in limp mode!!!

 

Scott Walter – Viola, WI 3/24/25

Good sap runs last week coupled with higher than normal sugar content led to good syrup production. This week, sugar content remains in the 2.3-2.7 range across our stands, telling us we have a ways to go if temperatures allow. The forecast is for warmer weather late this week, but a return of freezing nights this weekend will hopefully extend our season into next week at least. The overall picture has been of high sugar contents so far, but spotty sap runs.

 

Dave Carlin – Lanesboro, MN 3/24/25

The frost on the North Hillside is finally going out, starting to finally have some good runs at about 40% crop.

 

George Gmach – Rogers, MN  3/28/25

I pulled taps yesterday at 90% of an average 1/3 gallon of syrup per tap.  The weather is very warm and rain is in the forecast. There could be another good run early next week. As a 76-year-old hobby producer I have the luxury of stopping to do some other projects and to get ready for field work on the farm. It was a good season and could have been a record if I continued.

 

Mark Duchene – Mn 3/28/25

Northfield, New Prague & Heidelberg pulled taps today due to high temperature of 81 degrees.  We finished boiling today, we were lucky to complete as our concentrate was starting to turn.  We completed our season and hit our goal of 100 gallons +.  This season was unusual but productive.