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'Cold-Cold, Warm-Warm': Maple Syrup Watchers Need Right Conditions For Production

The Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz marked the 2020 maple syrup season Friday with a kick-off event at Lamothe's Sugar House in Burlington, Connecticut. This winter's mild temperatures could impact what syrup producers yield from area maple trees.

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.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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