Maple Syrup May be in Short Supply

On average, Rexrode’s Sugar Orchard in Monterey, that’s in Highland County, will produce some 300 gallons of maple syrup in a season.  The owners say the long period of cold and the amount of snow Virginia had this winter has them expecting a short syrup season.

Sugar farmers normally tap their trees early in February and then run piping to holding tanks that collect the sugar water.  That is then boiled down to syrup by the end of the month.  But the weather needs to be warm enough to melt the sugar water in the trees.  So far Rexrode’s has managed about 50 gallons of syrup.  The Highland County Sugar Maple Festival begins on Saturday.

John Ogle, WCVE News