New York’s Thriving Maple Industry

New York State Ranks Second in the Nation in Maple Production

Governor Kathy Hochul encourages New Yorkers to support their local maple producers during Maple Month.

The Governor highlighted New York’s upcoming Maple Weekends events and activities, which will take place March 16 – March 17 and March 23 – March 24, along with other special events and promotions throughout the month. New York State continues to rank second in the nation in maple production and is also home to the largest resource of tappable maple trees within the United States and more than 2,000 maple sugar makers.

“With Maple Month officially underway, there’s no better time to support our local New York maple producers,” Governor Hochul said. “New York State is home to an incredibly hardworking community of maple producers making some of the most delicious and innovative maple products in the world. I encourage all New Yorkers to participate in Maple Weekends this month to sample some of the world-class items that local vendors have to offer.”

As part of the kickoff to Maple Month, New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball visited Dutch Hill Maple, a family-owned farm in Tully, NY for an annual maple tree tapping to highlight New York’s maple industry and the maple producers participating in the New York State Grown & Certified program. The event also included a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Dutch Hill Maple’s new sugarhouse, which was completed in 2023.

Maple Weekends

Throughout the month of March each year and the last two weekends of the month in particular, 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 offer tours and pancake breakfasts, 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. A searchable list of Maple Weekend events is available at mapleweekend.nysmaple.com.

New York State Maple Producers Association Executive Director Helen Thomas said,

“New York State’s Maple season is in full gear as we start the month of March. Normally a tapping ceremony on March 1 signals the start of the season. We all agree the weather has been unusual this winter – cold weeks with a little snow followed by warm weeks that erase that snow cover. Our maple producers have had to be well prepared for earlier than normal sap runs. Many NY producers are reporting that they have made over half their crop already. The quality is excellent as first runs are often the best of the season. We look forward to NY Maple Weekends March 16-17 and 23-24 when we invite the public to come to the farm and see the process and taste the results!”

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.