2024 Season Summary

The 2024 season has come to a close and the best words we have to d

escribe it are:: "It was strange".

Michigan Maple:

Many sugar makers across Michigan reported having a short season with production levels well below average, however some sugar makers in the northern regions of Michigan reported better results than those in the south. Most everyone throughout the state reported sap having a lower than normal sugar content, light Nitre (sugar sand) as well as a finished syrup with color grades darker than normal.

All sugar makers pointed to warmer than normal temperatures as the primary reason for lower yield. Temperatures were unstable and inconsistent with some short flashes of normalcy spread out in between days & nights of warmer than normal temperatures. In order for sap to run at its best, temperatures need to be below freezing at night with daytime temperatures above freezing. Ideal temperature ranges are in the mid twenties at night and low to mid forties during the day. Most of Michigan did not experience this normal springtime pattern, particularly in the Southern region as above freezing temperatures came early and stayed.

Mrs. Li'L Willys:

At Mrs. Li'L Willy's sugar bush, warmer than normal temperatures had us tapping trees 3 weeks earlier on February 6th while midday temperatures were already above freezing, Our first sap collection for the year was also 3 weeks earlier on February 8th with our last collection on March 28 putting our overall season at 50+ days. For us a 50+ day season is longer than normal. Surprisingly, over 40% of our total sap collected came in the month of February. Typically, for our location, sap collection begins in the first couple weeks of March. STRANGE Right?

Nitre (Sugar Sand)

Unlike many other sugar makers the amount of Nitre we experienced in the evaporation process was worst than we had ever experienced. To counter the increased Nitre we broke down and cleaned the evaporator more often and allowed for longer filtration times to ensure all of the sugar sand was removed.

Color Gradient:

We did experience a darker than usual finished syrup as many others reported. Below are pictures showing each of the batch tests we conducted for the past two years so you can see how the color gradient changed throughout the season. We would consider 2023 to be a fairly typical year starting out light and as the season progressed moving into darker colors. This season the early batches were darker than last and were relatively short lived. This season was our first season we produced the darkest grade of syrup called Very Dark, in the middle of the season. Interestingly, you can see how the syrup actually lightened up on the last three batches of the year. STRANGE Right?

Results:

We ended up producing more syrup this year than in the past, however this was largely due to an increase in the number of taps. After taking the increased taps into consideration our yields for sap and syrup were down 20-30% despite having a season that was 20 days longer than last year and collecting as early as we had. For anyone interested in the year over year statistics we have included them below.

Upgrades:

We will be keeping everyone posted throughout the year on next years upgrades to our sugar shack and equipment. They will be significant.