The busy
season of a major Wisconsin industry is getting ready to begin.
Many farmers
across the state are starting to tap their trees for maple syrup. These
producers are hoping to recover from last year. One of their worst in recent
history.
"It's
been fairly cold, good snow cover," said Jim Adamski, Adamski's Sugar Bush
Owner. "The weather conditions are shaping up to be a pretty good
season."
Adamski
tapped his trees a few weeks ago, but is still waiting for warmer weather, to
get the sap flowing.
He says last
year he was only able to produce 30% of his crop.
"It was
pretty poor," said Adamski. "It was the worst production year we've
ever seen since we've been in it."
But he says
others had it much worse.
"We kind
of got plagued by a lot of things last year," said Adamski. "Too warm
too quick, not enough freezing nights."
The U.S. Department of Agriculture says Wisconsin produced 50,000 gallons of maple
syrup last year. That's down 68 percent from the 155,000 gallons produced in
2011.
With 2012
behind them, Adamski and other producers hope for better weather this spring.
"A nice
slow spring warm up is good for us," said Adamski. "It will hold our
snow cover. We like to see low temperatures in the mid 20s, highs in the mid
40s for ideal sap flow conditions."
Ideal
conditions for making plenty of pure Wisconsin maple syrup.
For more
information on Adamski's Sugar Bush, call the business at 715-623-6853.
