1998 and 1999 were very difficult years for Vermont's maple industry. Yields are always variable with weather and water tables but we have had the added problem of massive tree damage from January '98's amazing ice storms. Northern Vermont harvested a large percentage of trees because the ice destroyed their crowns making them unable to sustain themselves in the future. High Brook had a similar experience.

Here in Central Vermont the damage was more localized with the higher elevations being hit the hardest. On our farm we could see the line across the hills where the ice started. It was a spooky feeling to listen to the trees snap and fall all night long as the ice got heavier and heavier and the sun just couldn't melt it off soon enough.We were left with about 25% of the taps that we normally have and there are many farms like ours reporting the same figures. Even after we cleaned up the sugarbush and began to run new lines we were hit again by more ice and wind damage from the wild storms in 1999. Sometimes we wondered if we would ever get the lines back up. Our 1998 crop was... pretty small!

Often when Vermont has an off year southern Quebec steps in with higher production and picks up the slack. That did not happen in '98 as their damage was much worse than here! The result of all this is slightly higher prices to the consumer since there was far less syrup than normal and the cost of repairing the sap lines and cleaning up the woods proved to be enormous.

However, after a very hard and disappointing 1999 season and a far more encouraging 2000 season, we have finally recouped the majority of our taps and are busily mapping out trees in previously untapped areas for the 2001 season. We will make syrup in the spring. Unfortunately, unlike most crops that have an off year due to a natural disaster, it will be 10-15 years before Vermont and Quebec see the sugarbushes fully recovered. We like to think Mother Nature knows best and it all happens for a reason!

We owe the fact that we were be back up to speed in 2000 to a lot of help from family, friends and neighbors who gave us a day here and there when they could. When you taste our syrup we hope you will think about all those nice people who made it possible.

Thanks To All!