Experts in the local maple syrup industry are concerned that mild winter weather could lead to a drop in production.
According to the National Weather Service, the average temperature in Hartford for January was 7 degrees above normal.
“What we mostly need are cold nights, about mid-20s, and up into the 40s during the day -- cold-cold doesn’t work and warm-warm doesn’t work -- so we need that change in temperature,” said Mark Harran, president of the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut.
Yonghao Li, a pathologist with the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station’s Department of Plant Pathology and Ecology, believes a recent spell of cold weather could help things come around.
“We still have lower than freezing temperature right now, so we can have maybe a few months that can extend the maple syrup production,” Li said.
Neither would project this winter’s output of maple syrup. In 2018 -- the most recent year for which Connecticut data is available -- the state said it produced 18,000 gallons.
