This year鈥檚 early spring has put a slight dent in Northeast Ohio鈥檚 overall maple syrup yield. But for producers who tapped their trees early, it has been a good season.
In , where much of the state鈥檚 maple syrup is produced, says this season can be broken into two different stories. For producers who predicted earlier warm weather and tapped in the beginning of January, they got big yields of sap that made high quality syrup. But then there were the others.
鈥淭he producers that traditionally wait until after President鈥檚 Day to tap, it was a pretty miserable year. ... The 24th day of February we had 77 degrees in Cleveland; we set records all over the place for high temperatures. Buds started to swell, and when buds pop on trees the season is over.鈥�
Ober predicts will produce slightly less than its average of 26,000 gallons. He says there has been tapping in January three out of the last five years in Northeast Ohio, which he calls unheard of, but he hesitates to say there is a permanent pattern developing.
