Final report for FNC19-1160
Project Information
Producer has been using a gravity fed tubing system to reduce all terrain vehicle traffic to reduce the amount of soil impaction that affects the shallow roots of maple trees. Producer removes snags from his sugar bush and periodically thins the maple stand.
This project will promote the NC SARE Sustainable Agriculture practices to be ecologically sound, economically viable, and socially responsible by reducing the fuel necessary to reheat the sap, preserve the quality of the sap, and educate the community on using tubing to reduce the impact of foot or vehicle traffic on the root systems of the tapped sugar maple trees.
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- Increase marketing of maple syrup by updating the pan and filtration process.
- Provide hands-on educational opportunities for transitioning to tubing and finishing sap.
- Increase sustainability by using less fuel in the sugar bush operation.
- Determine the amount of fuel and time used to finish syrup and compare the difference the filtration system has provided in finishing the syrup.
- Increase value added products for market.
- Share findings through workshops, website, social media, and conference presentations.
- Create a business plan for the sugar bush operation.
The producer has been running a sugar bush for 15 years. The producer has worked with the 13 Moons Fond du Lac Tribal College Extension Program since 2016. The role of the producer is to train community members about the sugar bush operations.
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- Increase marketing of maple syrup by updating the pan and filtration process.
- Provide educational opportunities for transitioning to tubing and finishing sap.
- Increase sustainability by using less fuel in the sugar bush operation.
- Determine the amount of fuel and time used to finish syrup and compare the difference the filtration system has provided in finishing the syrup.
- Increase value added products for market.
- Share findings through workshops, website, social media, and conference presentations
- Create a business plan for the sugar bush operation. MyPlan
Research
The producer will begin working with UMD Center of Economic Development to create a business plan for the sugar bush operation. The producer will work with the 13 Moons Program to track the amount of fuel he has used in the past and what he uses during this project to compare the savings in fuel use. The producer will share his knowledge with community members during the 13 Moons workshops. The producer will demonstrate the use of the steam bottle and filter press to teach community members the process of finishing syrup. The producer will create labels for his finished maple syrup products to market at the Fond du Lac Farmer’s Market and local events. The producer will complete a comparison of fuel used for the evaporator and filter systems to show savings in labor and natural resources.
To prepare for the sugar bush community members will learn from the producer how to identify maple trees during the winter months. The producer will demonstrate and provide hands on experiential learning on the correct tapping techniques, how to install and maintain a tubing system, boiling sap, making sugar, making candy, and finishing syrup in the 13 Moons Sugar Bush and workshops.
Resources from NCAT and Extension programs will be used for curriculum. Community members will learn about the process of starting a sugar bush operation from 30 taps, how to make upgrades, finishing, marketing and business planning. The UMN Center of Economic Development will be utilized to provide business planning workshops for the producer/educator and community members.
The following resources will be distributed at workshops:
Books: How to Make Maple Syrup by Allison and Steve Anderson
Handouts: In the publication “Maple Sugaring: An Introduction to Small-Scale Commercial Production"
The Proctor Maple Research Center http://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/filter_press_brochure.pdf
FDL Tapping Guidelines: http://www.fdlrez.com/RM/downloads/FDLSugarBushTappingGuidelinesMar16.pdf
The results of upgrading the evaporator increased the amount of syrup per cord of wood. The increased surface area of the evaporator pan combined with the new gasification arch improved production of sap to syrup from ~20 gallons per cord of wood to ~30 gallons per cord of wood. Labor and time cutting wood and processing the sap decreased from the upgrade of the evaporator pan and the gasification arch. Time and wood energy was saved with the addition of a filter press and bottler on-site. The quality of sap was improved with the insulated stainless steel tank improving marketing opportunities.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Due to Covid responses to social distance and quarantine, the goals and objective for the March-May 2020 sugar bush project was cancelled. The sugar bush operation was extremely limited due to lack of help. The data was not applicable to the project since we only collected a few gallons for personal use.
I attended and presented at the MN Emerging Farmers Conference on January 27th, 2021. The presentation was held via Zoom. We provided a powerpoint presentation on the experiential grant writing opportunity with SARE and the progress of the Sugar Bush project.
Updating my sugarbush (powerpoint slides)
https://youtu.be/HiGj42gYUA8 (YouTube Video)
Learning Outcomes
The SARE funding provided the opportunity to improve the 13 Moons Tribal College Extension Sugar Bush and workshops. The producer was able to provide a hands-on demonstration for installing a gravity fed tubing system to 50 trees.
The producer was able to increase the amount of sap made from 1 cord of wood from 15 gallons to 20 gallons, thus decreasing the amount of energy needed to produce syrup. The amount of syrup produced changes from season to season based on a number of variables, such as, temperature, length of season based on freezing night time temperatures, and barometric pressure.
Project Outcomes
One family became involved with the sugar bush workshops from start of identifying winter trees, tapping trees, utililyzing gravity feed tubing to collecting and processing maple sap to syrup. Most participants are single participants, however this group was a family that included their 11 year old daughter. Their participation was a great example of community participation.