TOWN OF WESCOTT, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The start of the spring season in Northeast Wisconsin includes waiting for that annual goodness known as maple syrup.
But because of lingering wintry weather, producers at some of those operations called sugar shacks, are just getting started.
Springtime arrived about a month late this season on this eight-acre maple tree plot near Shawano called Yeager’s Sugar Shack.
“We tapped in the middle of February, and we didn’t cook until the 15th of March. Nothing. All cold weather. Never got above freezing,” said Jim Yeager, Yeager’s Sugar Shack.
Yeager says coupled with freezing nighttime temperatures, maple trees need daytime conditions above freezing, before the sap typically starts to flow.
“Since then, we had a little dry spell, and then last Saturday-Sunday, it kicked in again. We cooked last Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and I think we made about 2,000 gallons of syrup last weekend,” he said.
Yeager says sap is vacuumed through a network of plastic tubing, then pumped into the evaporator room.
“Having the wood fire, I believe, gives your syrup a better flavor,” said Marcia Yeager, Yeager’s Sugar Shack.
Jim’s wife Marcia Yeager says it’s common to cook all day. She says their son Jake Yeager does a lot of the work. In a typical season the sugar shack can produce around 4,000 gallons of maple syrup. The hot dark liquid is piped first into this finishing pan, before being filtered, and finally bottled. The syrup sells locally for about $7-8 dollars a pint.
“Jim loves it on vanilla ice cream. I make a lot of barbecue sauce with it. I make candy with it, not all the time, but then I use it a lot for another healthy thing is granola,” said Marcia Yeager.
The Yeager’s expect the season to wrap up in about a week.
“It depends on what the weather does in the next 4-5 days. When they’re talking freezing temperatures on Friday and Saturday, we might get one more run in yet before it’s over,” said Jim Yeager.
According to United States Department of Agriculture statistics, in 2021, the U.S. produced about 3.42 million gallons of syrup, which is a decrease of 17 percent from the year before. In Wisconsin, producers made 300,000 gallons, which was increase of 35,000 gallons from the 2020 season.
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