As maple syrup production season in New Brunswick comes to a close, producers in the province say the unusual winter and spring conditions has caused some problems.
READ MORE: Warm weather has N.B. maple producers in a hurry to get trees tapped
Bonnie Knowlton Trites of Trites Family Sugarbush, a family sugarshack in Moncton, says this was the worst season she’s seen at her family business in the last 20 years.
“The season was almost non-existent because we didn’t get the right temperatures, -7 at night and +7 in the daytime are perfect temperatures, we didn’t reach those levels at all,” Knowlton Trites said.
Trites said that Sugarbush has 1,600 trees on their lot and it takes 10 trees to produce one gallon of maple syrup, which means she should’ve been able to make 160 gallons. This year, she said she produced 20 gallons.
Other producers in the southern parts of the province aren’t fairing much better.
David Briggs of Briggs Maples said he’ll get half of what he produced last year
“We have a little bit left from last year, where we had good crop. But this year we’re gonna have to buy more from other producers here in the province,” he said.
Odds are he wont be the only one. According to to the Maple Syrup Producers Association of New Brunswick, producers on the southeast side of the province were reporting a 25 per cent yield compared to last year as the season got too warm, too quickly.
Meanwhile, producers in the northern part of the province are having a much better season.
While it’s too early to say how good this year’s yield will be, every indication – including past history – shows that it will be a good one, which is good news for Knowlton Trites, as she will still be able to find enough product to satisfy her client base.
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