Northern Ontario maple syrup season off to a strong start

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 27, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 infinitesimal ago

Maple syrup producers successful bluish Ontario accidental the play is disconnected to a beardown start, with sap moving good successful the archetypal fewer weeks of tapping.

The play typically runs from mid-March to mid-April successful perfect conditions. With bully snowfall implicit the wintertime and caller rainfall helping moisture levels, producers accidental trees are producing mean to above-average sap flows.

Brian Bainborough, a shaper astatine Maple Ridge Farms connected Manitoulin Island and president of the North American Maple Syrup council, said helium is optimistic astir an above-average season.

"We've produced syrup already, we've had 3 boils," Bainborough said. "We're a small implicit 2,000 taps connected Manitoulin Island and it's a much accepted season. We started a small aboriginal than we person successful the past mates years, and we've made immoderate beauteous amber syrup."

Bill Hubbert, a maple shaper successful Sundridge, southbound of North Bay, said his cognition besides had a beardown start.

"We started connected the 12th of March and we're sitting about, good implicit a 3rd actually, astir apt 40 per cent of our crop," helium said. "It's froze up close now, but there's immoderate much upwind coming adjacent fewer days. So, we consciousness we're successful beauteous bully shape."

Hubbert said the perfect tapping conditions are temperatures betwixt -5 C and 5 C. 

He said past year's syrup accumulation was average, but the play was shorter. Hubbert adds that arsenic agelong arsenic the upwind doesn't lukewarm up excessively quickly, helium expects the play to past until mid-April.