UVM maple specialist outlines shifting management, research and new syrup-testing lab

Mark Islart, maple specialist and leader of the University of Vermont Extension maple program, told members of the Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry committee that maple production is changing in ways that affect forest health, yields and market quality.

"I'm not here as in any sort of capacity to influence or lobby. It's really just to share knowledge and give you an update on what we see in terms of trends," Islart said at the start of his presentation. He described the program's three main areas: sugar-bush health and management, sustainable high yields of sap and syrup, and syrup quality, and said the program focuses on the whole production chain "from tree to bottle."

Islart described how harvesting techniques have evolved from buckets to tubing and continuous vacuum systems. He said modern management and materials, when used with best practices, can roughly double sap and sugar harvest compared with traditional bucket collection. "In the last 25 years on average the amount of syrup per tap has increased 60%," he said, attributing gains to tubing, vacuum pumps capable of running 24/7, and improved system management.

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