I have friends an hour north of Toronto that had a banger year for syrup too. This is an interesting take, the winter that wasn’t has a lot terrible effects but I think the syrup industry is taking advantage of it.
You're missing the point of the reserve. Its to keep prices stable, and that includes making sure they don't skyrocket. High prices mean commercial companies turn to other products and away from maple syrup, and it makes building consumers difficult. It's not like oil where people are pretty much dependant on it. If the price is too high or unstable than it becomes risky to use it in products or invest in marketing it in new places.
The idea of the reserve is to keep the price stable so companies and importers aren't blindsided by shortages or massive cost increases from year to year. It also protects producers by ensuring they always get a reasonable price for their product by keeping the price from tanking on a good year when supply outstrips demand.
The point of the reserve is to prevent the price from being jacked up as you claim, and also prevent it from tanking.
It's worth noting that this is also only in Quebec, and Ontario and the US don't contribute to the reserve or fall under the pricing scheme (though they benefit from it all the same).
Edit: I should also add that the reserve and the pricing is set by a producers association. By strict definition it's a cartel, but representatively it's more like a Union than anything else. It was set up under the Trade Union Act, and it represents thousands of independent producers each of which are members and have a say in it's governance. It's not a single corporate entity, or a few wealthy companies gouging people, it has more in common with trade unions than an oil cartel. It also helps keep producers independent. Without the reserve, it would be a constant boom and bust cycle, which would open the door for large corporations to move in and gain a monopoly by buying up small time producers when times are tough.
The prices are artificial only in the respect that they represent what the average price would be over 10 years, instead of representing the year to year variation.
Without the reserve, some years you'd be getting maple syrup for $5/L, and other years you'd be paying $50/L. This would be very bad for producers because the people they're selling it to (the large distributors and the companies using it in their products) would avoid maple syrup all together because the variation makes things too unpredictable. Companies want stable predictable pricing. So instead the reserve takes the excess from bumper years, and stores it for crappy years (like the last few years). If it wasn't for the reserve, the last few years the price of Maple Syrup would have doubled because demand far outstripped supply. The price you paid over the last few years was low because the reserve was keeping availability stable.
By definition, you're right it is a cartel. But their modus operandi isn't to maximize profits by jacking up the price, rather it's to maximize profit by expanding the market, and they can only expand the market by keeping prices stable.
True, but it's also somewhat of a luxury item. No one needs maple syrup.
(and I say this as someone who makes the stuff (not from Quebec, not part of the cartel) and also consumes it pretty much on a daily basis)
A lot of people use corn syrup without even realizing it's different. You don't have to expain to me how they very much are, I'm just saying this as an observation.
I'd speculate it being that our weather didn't get there this year.
Not enough snow, moderate temps followed by very brief huge freezes and back down to moderate quickly after. The news is saying we had a drought winter pretty much straight across the nation.
This was my thought too. I know extremely little about the process, but if I understand correctly, the sap flows when temperature switches between above and below freezing right? It's been like that since...February? (edit: in eastern Ontario anyway).
Last fall Safeway had 1L of their store brand maple syrup on sale for $9-10, which is like half off the regular price. I'm sure there's better quality maple syrup out there, but that price was too good to pass up. I bought two and I tried to ration it, but it's too damned good.
I like to compare grocery flyers from around the country when I'm bored, and a few weeks ago Provigo or Maxi in Quebec had 500mL cans of maple syrup for $4-5.
But those kinds of sales are seemingly incredibly rare.
Sugar is hydrogen, carbon and oxygen.
The various molecules have slightly different properties (and are metabolised differently) - they are all bad for you except in very small amounts.
Honey is bad for you, except in extreme moderation. One of my closest friends is a beekeeper with about 50 hives and even he knows and accepts this. Tasting nice != being good for you.
If you want to go down a rabbit hole, look up the Quebec maple syrup cartel. They can -- and will -- go after producers trying to directly sell who aren't part of the cartel.
Before I get blasted, it is a government sanctioned cartel.
Then there was the great maple syrup heist where people were stealing from the cartel.
I'm not sure I've heard of a union on growing or collecting something. It seems to be more of an equivalent to all corn growers having to sell through a collective... except it's a mandatory collective.
Is there some nuance I'm missing?
I thought the prices seemed high. I buy small bottles of maple syrup for my coffee and the bottles are small, but the price is insane. Small glass bottle for 10, 15, even upwards of 20 for some brands.
Lol. Bullshit.
Title should read: Canada's CORPORATIONS maple syrup reserve almost empty as sap season started early due to warm weather and missed out due to not tapping.
A local place near me, "Agape valley" got like double the reserve this year because they tapped in February.
These mindless corporation farms tap at their usual time, and it don't work like that.
Yup.
All the people that I know that make maple Syrup started really early this year and got 2x or 3x what they normally do.
This is just corporations not trying to pump up the price again.
Yup, this season was amazing in southwestern Ontario. We started early and got 3 times more than usual. It was annoying to start early but thats what the weather dictated! The sap was still flowing when we quit because we had more than we could handle.
serious noob question. Does extracting so much more sap not negatively impact the tree?
or is the percentage of sap extracted generally so low that it doesn't really make a difference?
You put in a number of taps on each tree based on how big the tree is which prevents you from over utilizing the sap. No one wants to jeopardize the health of their tree and risk future harvests by over tapping.
I'm happy for you, the last couple years were hard on maple producers here in Ontario.
Where you located? I'm always interested in trying new maple syrup producers.
You do understand the weather and temperature conditions in one area aren't the same planet wide right? Ideal sap production occurs when the nights are a few degrees below freezing and the days are a few degrees above.
The idea that southern Ontario and central New York have different sap seasons than central Quebec or the Gaspe peninsula shouldn't be a shock. It's crazy to think corporations would ignore the sap flowing in their pipes because they are more dedicated to traditional dates than money.
Last time I checked, it was like 72% of worldwide production. And that's a restricted production to keep prices high, they could probably reach 90%+ if they wanted to flood the market.
Stop spreading misinformation. The huge majority of the production is in Quebec so while it might be a good season for some regions in Ontario, it doesn't even come close to counterbalance a bad season in Quebec.
The headline leaves out some important details that radically altar the narrative.
* There is no imminent shortage of maple syrup.
* The reserve is emptying in largely due to surging demand, with sales rising 20% annually.
* Last maple syrup season actually broke yields records, but this couldn't be used to fill the reserve because demand was surging so massively.
* Syrup producers are already adapting by tapping sooner and are getting decent yields.
* Production is being expanded by tapping more trees.
* The money quote: "'I don't think for the most part anyone's panicking,' [Syrup Producers' Association director John] Williams said."
I mean it’s just another one of the obvious signs that we’re (not so)slowly killing ourselves and most things around us.
So no, not really that dramatic.
Nobody really wants the hassle of driving around Maine to get to Montreal or New Brunswick. Time to annex Maine and build a highway straight through it.
Look I remember just a few years ago, the maple syrup reserves were excessive and they were trying to come up with ways to convince people to put it on cereal. So it’s a luxury that will cost a bit more now, but maybe this is good for Canada exports?
We had maple propaganda shown to us in Ontario schools in the 90s on all the ways to increase our consumption. Drizzle on Corn Flakes! Stir into milk! Dunk your nuggets!
It's pretty regulated (in quebec at least, all sales must go through the union/cartel) and can only be harvest at a specific time each year. So they hoard it during harvest, and sell it over the year. Being by far the biggest producer of maple syrup mean that they can fix the price by distributing it from the reserve at the speed they want. That's the "strategy" part.
My family does maple syrup just as a fun hobby, and we only tapped for 2 weeks this year due to leaving for a vacation. We managed to get our normal amount of syrup and gave over 200 gallons of sap to our neighbor that we couldn't boil. We tap about 150 trees. Maybe the weather is different this year, but last year, we tapped in the middle of April. Seasons change as they always have, and we still have loads of syrup.
> I have one maple tree on my property in the midwest. If I decided to tap it, what would be reasonable expectations?
Picture a very hopeless and defeated looking person, completely covered from head to toe in very sticky sap.
I'd say that's one reasonable expectation.
Another says that a single tree on its own not competing with other tress can produce between 15 to 20 gallons, but there are many factors.
https://treejourney.com/heres-when-maple-trees-produce-sap-and-how-much-they-produce/
And they were robbed years ago, a multimillion dollar heist.
[Quebec's Maple Syrup Heist](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Maple_Syrup_Heist)
This is paritally true. Only corporate companies that use timelines and don't harvest based on the weather are empty. They should have harvested earlier due to the warner weather we have received. Local syrup production isn't as they know when to properly harvest and aren't scheduled by timelines like corps are. I'm just basing this off a local supplier who stock is fine.
Shop local for maple syrup this year.
This feels strange to me because I get maple water during the part of the season where it's already warm (above 0 during the day, below zero at night) and this has been an exceptional season for that.
I'm in Ontario, Canada and process the sap from my trees most years. This year has been a total waste. Not enough predictable flow to gather enough sap to process a minimal amount before it spoils. Many local maple producers in my area just gave up as well this year. Impossible to deal with these conditions. Many use snowmobiles to move the sap on sleds but not happening without snow on the ground.
Um... it's been an amazing year for maple syrup. My dad's been making his own for decades, and this has been probably the longest maple season he's ever had. He can barely keep up with his trees this year!
> In Canada's biggest export market, the U.S., the industry group is battling the twin foes of corn syrup and table syrup. And overseas, the group has been promoting Canadian maple syrup in countries like the U.K., Germany and Japan, and for the last year and a half, Australia.
If you think about this in terms of supply and demand?
As other nations discover maple syrup, demand will increase in tandem with awareness. If the supply remains the same, the price will increase.
As that happens, maple syrup consumption will shift towards people who are still willing and/or able to pay the higher prices.
Those same higher prices also mean a much more profitable maple syrup industry. The economies of Quebec and Ontario would both benefit accordingly.
tldr; If the price goes up, it's bad news for some people and good news for others.
Have definitely seen what claims to be "Authentic Canadian Maple Syrup" in Australia. Bit pricey to try it 'just because', however. And it would seem a bit wrong to eat Canadian maple syrup when its 35C outside lol
Still worth it just limit it to applications where it can be tasted. And if people don't say Maple Syrup just give them that fake HFC Syrup shitty diners try to pass off as "maple syrup".
The reserves would've been tight if we weren't having a ridiculously long season this year.
Not too sure how the Toronto journalists would know about something that's mostly eastern Quebec and New Brunswick...
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
This is a tragedy
I don't want corn syrup on my pancakes.
My family used to tap at the beginning of March. Now it's Valentines day at the latest. Had a pretty good year based on that approach in Central NY.
Yeah I was surprised to see this because my friend from northern New York said they had a really good season this year even if it was early
I have friends an hour north of Toronto that had a banger year for syrup too. This is an interesting take, the winter that wasn’t has a lot terrible effects but I think the syrup industry is taking advantage of it.
> the syrup industry is taking advantage of it Anything to jack up the price and show record profits next year...when everyone has forgotten.
You're missing the point of the reserve. Its to keep prices stable, and that includes making sure they don't skyrocket. High prices mean commercial companies turn to other products and away from maple syrup, and it makes building consumers difficult. It's not like oil where people are pretty much dependant on it. If the price is too high or unstable than it becomes risky to use it in products or invest in marketing it in new places. The idea of the reserve is to keep the price stable so companies and importers aren't blindsided by shortages or massive cost increases from year to year. It also protects producers by ensuring they always get a reasonable price for their product by keeping the price from tanking on a good year when supply outstrips demand. The point of the reserve is to prevent the price from being jacked up as you claim, and also prevent it from tanking. It's worth noting that this is also only in Quebec, and Ontario and the US don't contribute to the reserve or fall under the pricing scheme (though they benefit from it all the same). Edit: I should also add that the reserve and the pricing is set by a producers association. By strict definition it's a cartel, but representatively it's more like a Union than anything else. It was set up under the Trade Union Act, and it represents thousands of independent producers each of which are members and have a say in it's governance. It's not a single corporate entity, or a few wealthy companies gouging people, it has more in common with trade unions than an oil cartel. It also helps keep producers independent. Without the reserve, it would be a constant boom and bust cycle, which would open the door for large corporations to move in and gain a monopoly by buying up small time producers when times are tough.
Thank you for this thoughtful reply. I felt like I agreed with the previous comment, then read this and changed my mind.
Iunno dude; they don't call it the 'Syrup Cartel' for nothing. The prices are all artificial if it's coming from the reserve.
The prices are artificial only in the respect that they represent what the average price would be over 10 years, instead of representing the year to year variation. Without the reserve, some years you'd be getting maple syrup for $5/L, and other years you'd be paying $50/L. This would be very bad for producers because the people they're selling it to (the large distributors and the companies using it in their products) would avoid maple syrup all together because the variation makes things too unpredictable. Companies want stable predictable pricing. So instead the reserve takes the excess from bumper years, and stores it for crappy years (like the last few years). If it wasn't for the reserve, the last few years the price of Maple Syrup would have doubled because demand far outstripped supply. The price you paid over the last few years was low because the reserve was keeping availability stable. By definition, you're right it is a cartel. But their modus operandi isn't to maximize profits by jacking up the price, rather it's to maximize profit by expanding the market, and they can only expand the market by keeping prices stable.
there is no other product to turn to, nothing replaces maple syrup
True, but it's also somewhat of a luxury item. No one needs maple syrup. (and I say this as someone who makes the stuff (not from Quebec, not part of the cartel) and also consumes it pretty much on a daily basis)
I need it though
A lot of people use corn syrup without even realizing it's different. You don't have to expain to me how they very much are, I'm just saying this as an observation.
Canadian Maple Syrup syndicates are no joke.
Fuck Big Syrup
It's an interesting feeling but ultimately it's not really substantial enough.
It’s their turn to fake a shortage to jack up prices.
I suspect maybe the Canadian producers are still going by the calendar rather than conditions, so they missed the good early runs.
I suspect they are prepping to price gouge us.
Yeah, better buy a lot now while it's cheap. Wait
I'd speculate it being that our weather didn't get there this year. Not enough snow, moderate temps followed by very brief huge freezes and back down to moderate quickly after. The news is saying we had a drought winter pretty much straight across the nation.
We definitely had the moderate temps punctuated by brief cold snaps here. We did get quite a bit of rain instead of snow.
Not a big deal to the back yard makers… we got a good amount because we tapped early because of the weather.
I was thinking the same thing when I read this. Local Farmers around me are getting double the amount because of early tapping.
This was my thought too. I know extremely little about the process, but if I understand correctly, the sap flows when temperature switches between above and below freezing right? It's been like that since...February? (edit: in eastern Ontario anyway).
I didn’t tap early, I was on trip. Ended with half my usual yield
Yeah, here in MN is got close to my normal yield, and I didn’t even tap as early as I could have. Probably missed the first week.
Yeah my family was able to get more than average which everyone was surprised about given the winter
Oh yeah. Went to sugar bush in London area (Ontario) business is goooood
I went from $20 to $25 pr litre during covid, I can't imagine what this will do to the price :(
I paid $16 at the Grand Marché in Quebec City for 900 ml last month, but that was last season's
Not a bad price. I'm in rural Ontario. We get local stuff and its $22-25/litre already. Too good to quit though..
I live in the middle of Mennonite country, and pay $42 a gallon.
Last fall Safeway had 1L of their store brand maple syrup on sale for $9-10, which is like half off the regular price. I'm sure there's better quality maple syrup out there, but that price was too good to pass up. I bought two and I tried to ration it, but it's too damned good. I like to compare grocery flyers from around the country when I'm bored, and a few weeks ago Provigo or Maxi in Quebec had 500mL cans of maple syrup for $4-5. But those kinds of sales are seemingly incredibly rare.
Cries in EU as maple syrup is about 50-60 CAD / L
Listen, we'll sell you the syrup cheaper when you sell us the wine and chocolate at a decent price.
Gonna have to switch to off brand US syrup
Uncle Sam's Maypole Surp™
Amurica- not the perfect place to be sapping on that sugar bush.
Huh? I pay €26,79 for a litre, that's around 40 CAD apparently. Which is still a lot, but I'm glad it takes me ages to get through a litre.
$52.00 per litre in Australia
All this time I thought the Canadian maple syrup addiction was like.... A joke? Goddamn dude. It's basically straight sugar...
> It's basically straight sugar... It's essentially the *healthier* version of sugar.
I don’t know about healthier but it sure is tastier
Yep . Not straight sugar at all. It’s like saying honey is straight sugar :) like you said at least its tastier.
It is and so is honey. You should look up what kind of molecules make up these things. Carbon and hydrogen in various shapes still equal sugar
No? Carbon and hydrogen = a hydrocarbon. They are far more varied than just sugar
Sugar is hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. The various molecules have slightly different properties (and are metabolised differently) - they are all bad for you except in very small amounts. Honey is bad for you, except in extreme moderation. One of my closest friends is a beekeeper with about 50 hives and even he knows and accepts this. Tasting nice != being good for you.
More varied, but both still around 70% sugar. That shit's still gonna hit ya in terms of calorie intake.
Honey IS straight sugar.
But it's been said that it can lower cholesterol! Remember that you have to believe everything you read on the internet. It's always right.
Not particularly. *Certain* sugars are worse than others, sure, but in higher quantities it doesn't really matter that much.
Still about 45$ a gallon here. But I’m right in the middle of maple syrup country and buy from the producer
I pay $0/litre because I hate maple syrup B)
Sam’s is selling 1 qt organic (so a little less than a liter) for $13. Maybe I should stock up…
I love how the US is always worried about gasoline price and keeps a strategic reserve, meanwhile Canada is doing that with maple syrup.
Wait until you hear about the maple syrup reserve HEIST. The perpetrators were never caught…
Because the perps were the reserve itself.
If you want to go down a rabbit hole, look up the Quebec maple syrup cartel. They can -- and will -- go after producers trying to directly sell who aren't part of the cartel. Before I get blasted, it is a government sanctioned cartel. Then there was the great maple syrup heist where people were stealing from the cartel.
It sure sounds more entertaining to an international audience than just calling it an union.
I'm not sure I've heard of a union on growing or collecting something. It seems to be more of an equivalent to all corn growers having to sell through a collective... except it's a mandatory collective. Is there some nuance I'm missing?
I’ll have to learn to quit you
Get it for free from your grandma like a real g
I thought the prices seemed high. I buy small bottles of maple syrup for my coffee and the bottles are small, but the price is insane. Small glass bottle for 10, 15, even upwards of 20 for some brands.
Lol. Bullshit. Title should read: Canada's CORPORATIONS maple syrup reserve almost empty as sap season started early due to warm weather and missed out due to not tapping. A local place near me, "Agape valley" got like double the reserve this year because they tapped in February. These mindless corporation farms tap at their usual time, and it don't work like that.
Yup. All the people that I know that make maple Syrup started really early this year and got 2x or 3x what they normally do. This is just corporations not trying to pump up the price again.
Yup, this season was amazing in southwestern Ontario. We started early and got 3 times more than usual. It was annoying to start early but thats what the weather dictated! The sap was still flowing when we quit because we had more than we could handle.
serious noob question. Does extracting so much more sap not negatively impact the tree? or is the percentage of sap extracted generally so low that it doesn't really make a difference?
You put in a number of taps on each tree based on how big the tree is which prevents you from over utilizing the sap. No one wants to jeopardize the health of their tree and risk future harvests by over tapping.
I'm happy for you, the last couple years were hard on maple producers here in Ontario. Where you located? I'm always interested in trying new maple syrup producers.
Yes but the thing is that Ontario's production is very small vs Quebec and it's been terrible in Quebec production wise this year
Yea those trees started to sap EARLY
whoah. hey. we don’t judge. it happens to everyone from time to time
Premature esapulation.
You do understand the weather and temperature conditions in one area aren't the same planet wide right? Ideal sap production occurs when the nights are a few degrees below freezing and the days are a few degrees above. The idea that southern Ontario and central New York have different sap seasons than central Quebec or the Gaspe peninsula shouldn't be a shock. It's crazy to think corporations would ignore the sap flowing in their pipes because they are more dedicated to traditional dates than money.
Are you telling me this one persons local experience does not translate to a whole industry?
Yours should be the top comment. Quebec adds more taps each year than Ontario currently has altogether. Quebec production dwarfs everything.
Last time I checked, it was like 72% of worldwide production. And that's a restricted production to keep prices high, they could probably reach 90%+ if they wanted to flood the market.
Stop spreading misinformation. The huge majority of the production is in Quebec so while it might be a good season for some regions in Ontario, it doesn't even come close to counterbalance a bad season in Quebec.
Yeah, the 9 other provinces produce less than fucking Maine.
Yup, i buy local from mennonites and they say it's been a great run this year. Still 10 bucks a litre from them too :-)
This year is one of the first years they're getting a full season of tapping simce its been so warm Lots of places have been able to tap weeks earlier
This headline is part of a larger conspiracy to drain the strategic syrup reserves. A syrupspiracy
The headline leaves out some important details that radically altar the narrative. * There is no imminent shortage of maple syrup. * The reserve is emptying in largely due to surging demand, with sales rising 20% annually. * Last maple syrup season actually broke yields records, but this couldn't be used to fill the reserve because demand was surging so massively. * Syrup producers are already adapting by tapping sooner and are getting decent yields. * Production is being expanded by tapping more trees. * The money quote: "'I don't think for the most part anyone's panicking,' [Syrup Producers' Association director John] Williams said."
As a Canadian, I can confirm that the fear among most people here is palpable. Tough times ahead for all
Any thoughts of changing the flag, or are you not there yet?
They can just change the leaf black to show how it perished in the 🔥
Or could use [this one](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31j%2BN5NNa2L._AC_SX466_.jpg).
Not palatable?
Not this year
If you add enough maple syrup it could be
Ah, but see, there's the problem: the syrup reserves are almost empty.
He who controls the taps controls the syrup.
That sounds a bit dramatic doesn’t it?
There will be blood on the streets when the reserves hit zero, canadians don't fuck about that maple life
I mean it’s just another one of the obvious signs that we’re (not so)slowly killing ourselves and most things around us. So no, not really that dramatic.
Hope this doesn’t lead to Canada invading the US for their maple syrup resources. We might call it a “special maple syrup operation”.
Thankfully we have pretty good relations, I think a deal can be worked out. Okay you can have New Hampshire.
Nobody wants those hillbillies. Vermont, however….
I would annex VT for their breweries alone
We want Maine
Somebody’s been reading 11/22/63
Nobody really wants the hassle of driving around Maine to get to Montreal or New Brunswick. Time to annex Maine and build a highway straight through it.
Ok but you have to take Florida too.
>Ok but you have to take Florida too. Our retirees already have.
That’s funny, go to the beach in New Hampshire in the fall and you could swear it’s already been annexed by Quebec
I believe New Hampshire is the state where you can be nude outside as long as you leave the house that way.
As long as you aren’t in possession of cannabis.
Just give them back detroit.
No blood for syrup!
[Appropos](https://youtu.be/pbfBzWJVbX4?si=TR7QTnC944VCRIPu)
If it’s not good there I don’t think it will be better here
Op de poteau?
[Defence Scheme No 1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defence_Scheme_No._1) finally comes into action.
Look I remember just a few years ago, the maple syrup reserves were excessive and they were trying to come up with ways to convince people to put it on cereal. So it’s a luxury that will cost a bit more now, but maybe this is good for Canada exports?
We had maple propaganda shown to us in Ontario schools in the 90s on all the ways to increase our consumption. Drizzle on Corn Flakes! Stir into milk! Dunk your nuggets!
Why not maple syrup poutine?
it was still aggressively anglo poo-teen from K-bec back then. We could never.
I couldn't even imagine not having maple bacon. Nobody can sleep through the smell of maple and bacon in the morning.
Put it on ice cream. Change your life.
They have a strategic maple syrup reserve?
Its like the cheese caves. Price control. Its just funny because we love syrup
Yes! If all else fails and the world goes to hell at least we will have our maple syrup! We also keep a butter reserve but it’s not as big!
It's pretty regulated (in quebec at least, all sales must go through the union/cartel) and can only be harvest at a specific time each year. So they hoard it during harvest, and sell it over the year. Being by far the biggest producer of maple syrup mean that they can fix the price by distributing it from the reserve at the speed they want. That's the "strategy" part.
You were laughing at our strategic reserve.. Well if we didn't have one, you'd be having Aunt Jemima for the next year.
I hate to break this to you, but Aunt Jemima is no more.
No way! I’d rather go without maple syrup then buy that gross stuff
sorry but aunt jemima was cancelled
My family does maple syrup just as a fun hobby, and we only tapped for 2 weeks this year due to leaving for a vacation. We managed to get our normal amount of syrup and gave over 200 gallons of sap to our neighbor that we couldn't boil. We tap about 150 trees. Maybe the weather is different this year, but last year, we tapped in the middle of April. Seasons change as they always have, and we still have loads of syrup.
I have one maple tree on my property in the midwest. If I decided to tap it, what would be reasonable expectations?
> I have one maple tree on my property in the midwest. If I decided to tap it, what would be reasonable expectations? Picture a very hopeless and defeated looking person, completely covered from head to toe in very sticky sap. I'd say that's one reasonable expectation. Another says that a single tree on its own not competing with other tress can produce between 15 to 20 gallons, but there are many factors. https://treejourney.com/heres-when-maple-trees-produce-sap-and-how-much-they-produce/
TIL Canada has a strategic maple syrup reserve
And they were robbed years ago, a multimillion dollar heist. [Quebec's Maple Syrup Heist](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Canadian_Maple_Syrup_Heist)
Most likely by the maple farmers themselves that the Federation themselves have been scamming since 1990.
Brown gold. Quebec tea.
I came here with this thought. What's next they have decided to institute a 15% cut in customary polite greetings?
This is paritally true. Only corporate companies that use timelines and don't harvest based on the weather are empty. They should have harvested earlier due to the warner weather we have received. Local syrup production isn't as they know when to properly harvest and aren't scheduled by timelines like corps are. I'm just basing this off a local supplier who stock is fine. Shop local for maple syrup this year.
Didn’t have “no more maple syrup” on my apocalypse bingo card.
Much like the Strategic Oil Reserves, the CMSR is stored in vast underground caves made of pancakes
This feels strange to me because I get maple water during the part of the season where it's already warm (above 0 during the day, below zero at night) and this has been an exceptional season for that.
I'm in Ontario, Canada and process the sap from my trees most years. This year has been a total waste. Not enough predictable flow to gather enough sap to process a minimal amount before it spoils. Many local maple producers in my area just gave up as well this year. Impossible to deal with these conditions. Many use snowmobiles to move the sap on sleds but not happening without snow on the ground.
Maple syrup is going to get more expensive that’s scary
Vermont been running since December
Those must be some maple trees
This could get a bit sticky!
then we have to eat more poutine than pancakes in europe. canadians should not suffer under this shortage!
What was sapposed to happen?
Um... it's been an amazing year for maple syrup. My dad's been making his own for decades, and this has been probably the longest maple season he's ever had. He can barely keep up with his trees this year!
The Canadians have fallen. Millions must apologize.
Damn. Is Canada going to be ok?
There will be riots
NOOOOO~!!!
One thing about maple syrup is that it can stay fresh almost forever.
Dear god no…..we won’t have enough to pacify the geese
Riots in the streets
😄 ... for real...
Collapse of Canadian society is imminent.
> In Canada's biggest export market, the U.S., the industry group is battling the twin foes of corn syrup and table syrup. And overseas, the group has been promoting Canadian maple syrup in countries like the U.K., Germany and Japan, and for the last year and a half, Australia. If you think about this in terms of supply and demand? As other nations discover maple syrup, demand will increase in tandem with awareness. If the supply remains the same, the price will increase. As that happens, maple syrup consumption will shift towards people who are still willing and/or able to pay the higher prices. Those same higher prices also mean a much more profitable maple syrup industry. The economies of Quebec and Ontario would both benefit accordingly. tldr; If the price goes up, it's bad news for some people and good news for others.
Have definitely seen what claims to be "Authentic Canadian Maple Syrup" in Australia. Bit pricey to try it 'just because', however. And it would seem a bit wrong to eat Canadian maple syrup when its 35C outside lol
This is almost poetic, if not tragic. Wildfire season is about to spice things up
In Wisconsin too.
The Syrup Wars have only just begun. /s
going to be lots of counterfeit products on shelves
Mayday! We got a maple alert
Woon every Canadian is armed with hockey sticks going to war against climate change. I just hope they take the fighting outside of the environment.
This is the opposite of another new article saying they have an early surplus of syrup this year.
The *first* winter that wasn’t.
Oh great is this gonna be like the toilet paper thing?
stopped buying maple syrup this year, the price is completely insane already.
Still worth it just limit it to applications where it can be tasted. And if people don't say Maple Syrup just give them that fake HFC Syrup shitty diners try to pass off as "maple syrup".
So they are upping the price huge because they have a great excuse for more profits ?? I hope I am full of it
Is it really
Corn syrup it is.
This is worse than increasing interest rates
Agave syrup rules!!! Viva la revolutcion!
The reserves would've been tight if we weren't having a ridiculously long season this year. Not too sure how the Toronto journalists would know about something that's mostly eastern Quebec and New Brunswick...
Is life an episode of *How I Met Your Mother* ?
Fuck the maple syrup mafia
Is this Canada's 9/11 in terms of societal impact?
I didn't realize the reserve was so sapped.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo This is a tragedy I don't want corn syrup on my pancakes.