Warm winter has impact on maple syrup production [Video]

In a nearly snowless scene at the Mequon Nature Preserve, Cory Gritzmacher and his staff prepare for the upcoming sugar maple tapping event, always on the last Saturday of February.”The Native Americans used that as an indicator of when spring is starting to arrive. Maple syrup is a really good indicator of spring, and it’s also known as the maple moon,” Gritzmacher said. But some people are already tapping their trees.”I know there’s a lot of producers that are starting to tap a little bit early because of unseasonably warm weather,” Gritzmacher said.Toward the end of winter, starches in the tree change into sugars, and the sugars move into the tree’s sap. “What we’re really looking forward to is cold nights. So below freezing at night and warm sunny days. So above 32, ideally around 40 degrees,” Gritzmacher said. But since Dec. 1, half of our nights have been above …