Posted on Jun 27, 2023
New law and new tech allow Oregon farmers to take aim at New England’s maple syrup dominance
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Oregon hasn’t traditionally made a lot of maple syrup, largely because there’s more money in Douglas fir trees than maple trees. Doug firs produce straight logs that are good for construction. Maples, on the other hand, often grow crooked, so the wood is used for lower-value products like paper pulp.
Some old-school growers refer to maples as a “trash tree,” even though wood from maple trees is used in plenty of everyday items, including musical instruments and furniture.
The other reason Oregon hasn’t traditionally made maple syrup is that the variety of tree that grows here, the bigleaf maple, produces very watery sap. So maple syrup is much more expensive to produce in the Pacific Northwest.
But over the last few years, a couple of technical advances and now a tweak in the law, have prompted some Oregon landowners to take another look.
First came improvements in reverse osmosis pumps. They’ve been used for years to take salt out of seawater in ships. Now pumps have been upgraded to take water out of tree sap — concentrating the sugar to make maple syrup.
Some old-school growers refer to maples as a “trash tree,” even though wood from maple trees is used in plenty of everyday items, including musical instruments and furniture.
The other reason Oregon hasn’t traditionally made maple syrup is that the variety of tree that grows here, the bigleaf maple, produces very watery sap. So maple syrup is much more expensive to produce in the Pacific Northwest.
But over the last few years, a couple of technical advances and now a tweak in the law, have prompted some Oregon landowners to take another look.
First came improvements in reverse osmosis pumps. They’ve been used for years to take salt out of seawater in ships. Now pumps have been upgraded to take water out of tree sap — concentrating the sugar to make maple syrup.
New law and new tech allow Oregon farmers to take aim at New England’s maple syrup dominance
Posted from opb.org
Farming
Agriculture
Food/Chow
Posted 11 mo ago
Responses: 2
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."New technology isn’t all that’s boosting Oregon’s maple syrup production.
The Oregon Legislature, pushed by groups that represent landowners like the Friends of Family Farmers, just agreed to allow small-scale producers to make syrup in their own kitchens, rather than spending thousands on commercial kitchens.
Food handling experts say maple syrup doesn’t spoil easily and syrup production is relatively simple, involving boiling-off water, disinfecting bottles and filling them. So the change is considered low-risk.
“This year, we’re going to have a lot more Oregon sources of farm produced maple syrup that people can buy,” said Eric Jones, a professor at the Oregon State University Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society."...
..."New technology isn’t all that’s boosting Oregon’s maple syrup production.
The Oregon Legislature, pushed by groups that represent landowners like the Friends of Family Farmers, just agreed to allow small-scale producers to make syrup in their own kitchens, rather than spending thousands on commercial kitchens.
Food handling experts say maple syrup doesn’t spoil easily and syrup production is relatively simple, involving boiling-off water, disinfecting bottles and filling them. So the change is considered low-risk.
“This year, we’re going to have a lot more Oregon sources of farm produced maple syrup that people can buy,” said Eric Jones, a professor at the Oregon State University Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society."...
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Many decades ago, some relatives had a maple farm. We would get a gallon of real maple syrup for Christmas each year. There is more work than you can imagine that goes into making enough maple syrup to sell. I got the starter pack of 3 trees and have plenty of little flyers.
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