Maple Weekend 2009

ALBANY, N.Y. (WIVB) - New York Maple producers had a bumper crop in 2008 making more than 330,000 gallons of syrup. This year the goal is to produce even more and the effort will be in full swing during Maple Weekend.

The annual event will take place over two weekends this year March 21-22 and 28-29 from 10am - 4pm each day. About 110 of the finest maple producers throughout New York State from Buffalo to Albany, Rochester to Binghamton and Jamestown to Plattsburgh, will open their sugarhouses to demonstrate the making of maple products "from the tree to your table." The event is free to the public.

“It’s grown to become a huge success across the state,” said Greg Zimpfer of Attica, Chairman and co-founder of the event. “Thousands of people are already checking the website for this year’s dates. And I’m getting calls from people wanting to know when that delicious
brown nectar will be ready.”

Maple Weekend is a free, family-oriented event that gives the public a chance to see how New York maple producers make some of the world's finest syrup and related products. For a list of participating maple producers and maps to their sugarhouses go online at www.mapleweekend.com.

On Maple Weekend, visitors can see all aspects of maple making, from the tapping of the trees to get the sap, to the boiling of the sap into syrup. Some producers will also demonstrate the making of maple syrup into other products including maple cream, maple cotton candy and maple sugar. Most sugarhouses will allow people to sample the products.

Techniques of maple production vary from producer to producer. Some are state-ofthe-art and some use traditional methods, so everyone is encouraged to visit several of the participating farms. In addition, many of the producers will have additional activities including horse and wagon rides, snowshoeing, guided walks in the woods and kids' corners.

In conjunction with Maple Weekend many all-you-can-eat pancake breakfasts featuring New York's finest maple syrup will help people satisfy their hunger and continue to promote syrup and other maple products. A list of many of the participating pancake breakfasts is available on www.mapleweekend.com/breakfasts.

New York State maple syrup has established its reputation as some of highest quality in the world. New York Maple producers continually strive to do a better job of telling people about it and that is what Maple Weekend is all about.

Last year, New York State’s approximately 1,500 maple syrup producers made more than 332,000 gallons of syrup according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Only Vermont with 500,000 gallons produced more maple syrup than New York. The increase was almost 44% over 2007’s production output. The jump was caused by outstanding weather conditions in most of the state with the exception of the North Country. In addition the sugar content in the sap was unusually high. Syrup color was 12% dark, 46% medium, and 42% light.

New York’s 1.48 million taps produce enough sap to account for almost 20% of the maple syrup made in the United States. That averages out to 0.218 gallons of syrup for every tap in the state with an average cost per gallon of syrup at $33.50.

Canada is the largest maple syrup producing country in the world. According the New York Agricultural Statistics Service the economic impact of maple production in New York State was an estimated $30 million in 2007. The financial figures for 2008 will be released in June of this year.

Maple Weekend started as Maple Sunday twelve years ago as a handful of maple producers in Wyoming County organized a one-day event to promote maple products. The event became so successful and grew so quickly that it now includes producers throughout New York State.

“We’re finding more serious maple producers are popping up across the state,” said Zimpfer. “They’ve seen the success of Maple Weekend and want to be a part of it. With more maple producers we have an increased chance to become the top producing maple state in the country within the next few years.”

So mark your calendars for March 21-22 and 28-29, 2009 and take the family to experience New York State maple!

For more information the public should contact (585) 535-7136.