Best Management Practices for Maple Syrup Producers in Nova Scotia
MPANS with help from Agrapoint has produced a new and improved best management practices for maple syrup producers in Nova Scotia.
First published in early, 2007, the Best Management Practices for Maple Syrup Producers in Nova Scotia, is a simple yet comprehensive document outlining
best practices to ensure your maple operations run smoothly, effectively and safely. It is important for sugar makers to
remember that they are making food and at every step of the process, from tapping to labeling finished product, care should be taken as to ensure the highest quality, safest product is produced.
MPANS encourages all maple producers in Nova Scotia to download a copy and become knowledgeable with the best management practices for producing maple syrup. Following this guide is also a great way to ensure the maple syrup and maple products you make are high quality and delicious.
A copy of the Best Management Practices for Maple Syrup Producers in Nova Scotia can be downloaded here.
Nova Scotia Maple Sector Survey
The Maple Producers’ Association of Nova Scotia has requested that the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture conduct an overview of the industry to help the Association with its strategic planning. As part of this process, we need your input. This survey’s purpose is to solicit your opinions about the maple sector in Nova Scotia and to gather relevant information that will aid the Maple Producers Association. The survey results will inform the Association about the state of the sector, provide a sector profile, identify opportunities and issues affecting the maple sector, and will help us serve you better.
Please click here to read more about this important project and to download a survey.
Annual General Meeting
Don’t Miss the AGM!
Date: Saturday, January 21st, 2012
Location: Riverview Room, Jenkins Hall (cafeteria), NSAC. Jenkins Hall is beside Cumming Hall off College Road, Bible Hill, NS and is where the MPANS AGM was held last January. See a map here.
Registration starts at 9:30a.m. and the MPANS business meeting will commence at 10:00 am sharp. Lunch will be from 12 to 1. We plan to adjourn the meeting by 4pm
Registration is: $20/person
At the MPANS AGM, membership fees for 2012 will be due. If you will be in attendance, you can pay your annual fees at that time. If you are unable to attend, you can send your fees to Gail McCormick (please make cheque out to MPANS).
Annual membership fees are the same as last year and can be found by clicking here.
Gail McCormick, MPANS Secretary
789 Rodney Road
RR# 1, Springhill, NS B0M 1X0
Fall Tour
We had another successful fall tour this year. Thank you to everyone who helped organize it and to all those who came out. The day was beautiful and we had some great discussions.
Group Shot from the 2011 MPANS Fall Tour
2011 Maple Industry Situation Report
The 2011 maple season in Nova Scotia was much better than the 2010 season in terms of production. Sixty one commercial producers made 143,200 litres of pure maple syrup from 371,000 taps. The average commercial maple operation in the province collected the sap from over 6,000 taps. Cumberland County was home to 34 operations and nearly 290,000 taps, over 78% of taps in the province.
To see the complete report please click here.
It Will Soon Be Time
It will soon be time to visit a maple operation to see the sap being collected from maple trees and condensed into one of nature’s most delightful products, pure Nova Scotia maple syrup.
Nova Scotia’s maple producers are now tapping their maple trees in preparation for the season. In the woods this year, there is plenty of snow. This makes the sugar bushes very pretty, but increases the challenges and workloads for the producers. Roads into the woods must be plowed, tubing has to be shovelled out of the snow, and workers travelling through the woods to tap the trees are finding the going very tough. Producers will, however, be ready for the sap flows when the daytime temperatures warm up.
Nova Scotia has a small yet vibrant maple industry. In 2010, 60 commercial maple producers made nearly 128, 000 litres of pure maple syrup from over 336,000 taps.
Cumberland County Maple Producer Honoured
At the recent Maple Producers’ Association of Nova Scotia annual general meeting held at the Nov
a Scotia Agricultural College in Bible Hill, Avard and Jean Bentley of Westchester Station were recognized for their contributions to the maple industry.
Mr. and Mrs. Bentley’s involvement with the maple industry spans more than three decades. Their sugar camp was built on Westchester Mountain in 1978, pipeline was installed in 1980 and the first boil took place in the spring of 1981. Throughout the years, the family run maple business has prospered and grown to be one of Nova Scotia’s largest operations. Taps have increased from the original 1,500 and sap was collected and boiled from35,000 taps in 2010.
The Bentleys have been very active in the Maple Producers Association of Nova Scotia (MPANS) having
served in a variety of positions. Avard has served on the MPANS board of directors several times, and has been Vice-President and President. Jean was secretary/treasurer for many years.
Avard attended the first ever North American Maple Syrup Council meeting in 1986 and has been a director of NAMSC ever since. The annual general meetings of North American Maple Syrup Council and International Maple Syrup Institute and the associated technical sessions have been held in Nova Scotia on two occasions, 1993 and 2003. Avard and Jean were very active in the planning on each occasion, with Avard serving as Co-Chair of both organizing committees. The NAMSC/IMSI annual conference will be held in Nova Scotia again in 2014 and Avard is once again on the organizing committee. In 2001, Avard was inducted into the American Maple Hall of Fame in Croghan, New York.
Rain Didn’t Dampen Fall Tour
MPANS Fall Tour Tubing Display
The fall tour went off without a hitch over the weekend. Although the rain was coming down hard the group was dry and warm with plenty of coffee and treats inside the newly renovated sugar house owned by the Gallagher’s. A growing operation, the newly expanded sugar house was admired by all and a great discussion took place regarding the use of air injection in the boiling process.
An excellent candy making presentation by Gloria and Harold Langille followed and was not only educational but very entertaining. Several methods of candy making and other maple confections were discussed as well as pricing and hurdles to distribution and sales.
Lunch, delicious as usual, was served at the Mapleton United Church. The minister of Agriculture the Honourable John MacDonell joined us for lunch and announced the inclusion of maple under the Nova Scotia Crop and Livestock Insurance Commission. This project has been underway for at least 3-4 years and the announcement that maple producers can now have their crop insured was welcome news.
The day wrapped up with a tour of Matt Harrison’s new sugar Camp up on Lynn Mountain. The newly expanded camp was toured and a maple butter demonstration was done by Kevin McCormick.
Tags: Fall Tour, Minister of Agriculture
2010 Maple Situation Report
The 2010 maple season in Nova Scotia was much better overall in terms of production than the 2009 season. Sixty commercial producers made 127,775 litres of pure maple syrup from 360,400 taps. The average commercial maple operation in the province collected the sap from over 6,000 taps. Cumberland County was home to 34 operations and over 286,400 taps, almost 80% of taps in the province.
The average yield per tap in 2010 was over 0.35 litres, the best yield since 2007. The total production for the province was the highest since 2003. The number of taps in Nova Scotia was a record high.
The maple season began during the last week in February. There were very good sap flows in February, but many producers were not ready to collect the sap that early. A few producers had only part of their woods tapped. The first boiling reported in 2010 was February 23rd. The last reported boiling was April 19th.
The average price reported by producers returning the questionnaire in 2010 was relatively good ($12.77/litre). Based on that price, the gross farm receipts from the maple crop would be $1,632,000, a record high for Nova Scotia.
In 2010, approximately 94% of the syrup produced was or will be sold as syrup. That means that 6% of the syrup produced was made into other maple products such as maple cream, maple butter, and maple sugar. Producers indicated that over 29% of total Nova Scotia production of maple products was sold at their camps and home. Twenty five percent (25%) of production was sold to retailers and 45% was sold to packers and shippers both inside and outside Nova Scotia. Less than 1% of production was saved for household and family use.
I would like to thank those producers who took the time to fill out and return the questionnaire. The information provided makes this Nova Scotia Maple Industry Situation Report as accurate as possible. It is important to have an accurate snapshot of the industry as we plan for the future and when MPANS speaks with government departments about support for the industry in this province. Producers also were generous with their suggestions for the annual fall tour. Most producers would like to see the maple tour concentrate on maple topics by visiting more operations and by 2 including more seminars. The suggestions will be used to plan the annual fall tour in the future.
The MPANS Board of Directors for 2010 and location of maple operation:
Murray Johnston, President – New Glasgow, Pictou Co.
William Allaway, Vice President – Upper Tantallon, Halifax Co.
Avard Bentley – Westchester, Cumberland Co.
Jason Haverkort – St. Joseph’s, Antigonish Co.
Kevin McCormick – Rodney, Cumberland Co.
Jim Bezanson – New Annan, Colchester Co.
Don Donkin – Fenwick, Cumberland Co.
Brian Brown – Oxford, Cumberland Co.
Matt Harrison – Lynn Mountain, Cumberland Co.
This Maple Industry Situation Report was developed for the maple industry in Nova Scotia with the assistance of AgraPoint International Inc.
Dale McIsaac, P.Ag.
Phone: 902-667-7810
Email: dalemcisaac@eastlink.ca
Tags: Maple Information, Nova Scotia Maple Statistics, Situation Report
