Gov. LePage vies to make Maine No. 1 in maple production
PHOTO CREDIT / RUSS DILLINGHAM
It's maple syrup time: Rob Johanson carries a propane heater to the sugar house to get it ready for the sugaring season at Goranson Farm in Dresden last April.
And we’re off – at a slow, syrupy pace that is – as the unofficial start of the Maine 2016 maple tapping season has begun.
Officials from the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry and the Maine Maple Producers Association report that tapping is underway throughout the state, with Maine’s southern and central regions already well into the season.
"Many Maine maple producers, particularly in the southern and central regions, had some very productive days last weekend,” said Lyle Merrifield, President of the Maple Producers Association said in a statement. “This season is earlier than most, raising hopes that it will run longer and produce greater yields of sap and maple syrup. Obviously, we will produce what weather conditions allow.”
Maine Gov. Paul LePage is also getting into the maple festivities as he will ceremonially tap a maple tree on the Blaine House lawn next month, and according to Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Commissioner Walt Whitcomb, LePage has made it clear that he wants to expand and strengthen Maine’s maple economy.
“Gov. LePage has expressed his desire to see Maine become No. 1 for maple production,” said Whitcomb in a release. “That is a very high bar, but the industry and department are working very hard to create more maple products and grow the industry.”
Maine is one of 10 states that produce maple syrup, along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Vermont is the nation’s leading syrup producer, accounting for 40.7% of the supply, according to one report.
According to University of Maine economist Todd Gabe, including multiplier effects, Maine's maple syrup industry annually contributes $49 million in revenue, 805 full- and part-time jobs and $25 million in wages to the state's economy.
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