Posted on Mar 21, 2022
Maple syrup producers in the lower Midwest tap into small, local markets
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In the Midwest, Wisconsin and Michigan are the biggest producers of maple syrup, but there is a lot of untapped potential for maple syrup in the lower Midwest.
In recent weeks, producers and hobbyists across the Midwest have been tapping their trees and making maple syrup. They were waiting for just the right conditions for the sap to run: temperatures above freezing during the day that dip below freezing at night.
“This is kind of the first sign of spring for me,” said Ben Hoksch, owner of Front Yard Sugar on a day in late February when he went out to tap trees. “Folks are starting to see red-winged blackbirds, turkey vultures are flying north, sap is flowing.”
His business, located in Ames, Iowa, relies on residents allowing him to tap their trees, many of them black maples. In exchange, they get a free jar of maple syrup and he sells the rest.
In recent weeks, producers and hobbyists across the Midwest have been tapping their trees and making maple syrup. They were waiting for just the right conditions for the sap to run: temperatures above freezing during the day that dip below freezing at night.
“This is kind of the first sign of spring for me,” said Ben Hoksch, owner of Front Yard Sugar on a day in late February when he went out to tap trees. “Folks are starting to see red-winged blackbirds, turkey vultures are flying north, sap is flowing.”
His business, located in Ames, Iowa, relies on residents allowing him to tap their trees, many of them black maples. In exchange, they get a free jar of maple syrup and he sells the rest.
Maple syrup producers in the lower Midwest tap into small, local markets
Posted from kcur.org
Ames
Food/Chow
Posted 2 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."If I make 100 gallons this year, which I hope to, I expect to be sold out by May 1,” he said. “The stuff sells itself.”
While Wisconsin and Michigan are two of the top 10 U.S. maple syrup producers, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri have traditionally had hobbyists and smaller producers. Yet there’s potential for more syrup production in those three states in the years to come, even as climate change shortens the tapping season. That’s because maple trees are taking over more territory historically dominated by oak trees.
“Evolutionarily, we had fire on the landscape. There weren’t maples,” said Jesse Randall, the director of the Forestry Innovation Center at Michigan State University.
Over time through changes in forest management – like wildfire suppression – maple trees have moved into oaks’ place in areas such as northeast Iowa. Randall said that means the maple syrup industry has room to grow.
“It’s just a matter of, ‘Let’s train those individuals how to make syrup,’” he said. “Because historically it has not been a big industry.”
Near the town of Bankston in northeast Iowa, Brian Wolfe and his family first got into maple syrup for fun.
“We started back in 2000. We wanted to do something with the children in the woods,” Wolfe said. “So we started collecting sap and making our own maple syrup for our own home use.”
The family now runs Big Timber Maple as a part-time business, along with their dairy farm. Last year, they produced 3,000 gallons of maple syrup.
Demand for their syrup was so high that by 2014 they began selling in two statewide grocery store chains, Fareway and Hy-Vee.
“Quite honestly a lot of people like local,” Wolfe said. “When they see an Iowa product they reach for that. There’s a lot of people that support us locally and we really appreciate that. We feel as if we’ve got a good product.”
For Mike and Debby Funk in Shirley, Illinois, maple syrup has a long family history. The Funk family first settled on the land in 1824, producing “sirup,” as it was then spelled, and sugar from the maple trees. Commercial production began with their ancestor, Arthur Funk, in 1891."...
..."If I make 100 gallons this year, which I hope to, I expect to be sold out by May 1,” he said. “The stuff sells itself.”
While Wisconsin and Michigan are two of the top 10 U.S. maple syrup producers, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri have traditionally had hobbyists and smaller producers. Yet there’s potential for more syrup production in those three states in the years to come, even as climate change shortens the tapping season. That’s because maple trees are taking over more territory historically dominated by oak trees.
“Evolutionarily, we had fire on the landscape. There weren’t maples,” said Jesse Randall, the director of the Forestry Innovation Center at Michigan State University.
Over time through changes in forest management – like wildfire suppression – maple trees have moved into oaks’ place in areas such as northeast Iowa. Randall said that means the maple syrup industry has room to grow.
“It’s just a matter of, ‘Let’s train those individuals how to make syrup,’” he said. “Because historically it has not been a big industry.”
Near the town of Bankston in northeast Iowa, Brian Wolfe and his family first got into maple syrup for fun.
“We started back in 2000. We wanted to do something with the children in the woods,” Wolfe said. “So we started collecting sap and making our own maple syrup for our own home use.”
The family now runs Big Timber Maple as a part-time business, along with their dairy farm. Last year, they produced 3,000 gallons of maple syrup.
Demand for their syrup was so high that by 2014 they began selling in two statewide grocery store chains, Fareway and Hy-Vee.
“Quite honestly a lot of people like local,” Wolfe said. “When they see an Iowa product they reach for that. There’s a lot of people that support us locally and we really appreciate that. We feel as if we’ve got a good product.”
For Mike and Debby Funk in Shirley, Illinois, maple syrup has a long family history. The Funk family first settled on the land in 1824, producing “sirup,” as it was then spelled, and sugar from the maple trees. Commercial production began with their ancestor, Arthur Funk, in 1891."...
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There is a person who lives about 6 blocks from us in town who has a couple dozen trees tapped for the maple sap. 4 blue plastic bags on every tree
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