Warm weather creates a sticky situation for maple syrup farmers

Cold nights and warm days are instrumental for making maple syrup. As the trees thaw during the day, pressure builds up inside, causing sap to flow into buckets.

But this sugaring season, those cold nights have been hard to come by.

"From the reports we're getting in, maple syrup production has been off, in part because of the weather," said Scott Soares, commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Since the season has not officially ended, it is unclear if there will be a shortage, Soares said.

"We do know there's syrup out there, and we still have a number of sugarhouses that are still operating," he said.

Jeff Mason owns one of those sugarhouses.

"You need to get a good freeze and a warm day in order to make good syrup," said Mason, who has been in the industry for over 40 years. "We're just not getting the freezes that we need."

Mason owns the Red Bucket Sugar Shack in Worthington, which boasts 9,000 trees on both non-vacuum and vacuum systems.

In a non-vacuum system, sap flow depends on those cold nights and warm days. Vacuum systems, on the other hand, help the process along by sucking the sap out of the trees.

"The non-vacuum trees haven't done hardly anything at all this year," Mason said. "The vacuum systems are pumping out something every day."

But the effects of unseasonably warm weather can't be completely negated. Mason's farm typically produces a couple thousand of gallons of syrup. It currently has made a little over half of that amount, he said.

With cold temperatures expected Friday night, though, Mason said he is still hopeful.

"The weather can change," he said. "We could still have a good week for sugaring."

About an hour away in Williamstown, Beth and Pete Phelps are hoping for the same.

With over 4,000 trees on the vacuum system in their sugarbush, the couple originally expected to produce over 2,000 gallons of syrup. So far, they've produced about half of that amount.

"We're still making it, fortunately," Beth said. "Little bits at a time, but we are making it."

"Everything has to do with the weather, just like in any other kind of agriculture," Pete added. "You can't control the weather, and that's the whole trick of farming."