New York Celebrates Maple Month

by Mindy Cohn

It's maple season when the sap starts to run in the maple trees, and thus, Maple Month is here in New York and across the nation. 

New York boasts the second-highest maple syrup production in the United States, giving the state a huge role in the maple syrup industry. Last year, maple syrup production across New York reached a record high as the state's trees were tapped, and the sap boiled down into 750,000 gallons of syrup.

In addition to its ranking for maple production, New York is also home to the largest resource of tappable maple trees within the United States and more than 2,000 maple sugar makers. In 2023, New York's maple industry used 2.5 million taps. 

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets supports the maple industry through the New York State Budget—which includes funding for promotion and educational programs—as well as through investments in research projects, such as Cornell University's Maple Program's Arnot Teaching Forest, and through its NYS Grown & Certified and Taste NY marketing programs.

Throughout the month of March each year, and, in particular, during the last two weekends of March, maple farms across the state open their doors to the public to provide a chance to taste pure maple syrup right from the source and experience the unique family tradition of making maple syrup in New York State. 

Producers sell maple products and demonstrate the syrup-making process, which includes the traditional system of hanging buckets on trees or more modern methods of production using vacuum systems to increase the yield of sap per tree. 

Maple Weekends in 2023 take place at nearly 150 maple sugar makers' farms, boosting agritourism across New York State.