The swings in weather mean producers have to rush to tap trees when temperatures shift unexpectedly, with little time to prepare for the operations
Increasingly unpredictable winter temperatures have Ontario maple syrup producers concerned about how climate change will affect the industry's future, with some pushing for environmentally friendly practices to reduce the sector's carbon footprint.
"We've always had winter thaws, but they've become more significant in the last 20 years," John Williams said in an interview. Producers have also had to deal with increasingly frequent windstorms that uproot maple trees, as well as invasive pests that can spread with rising temperatures. An infestation of tent caterpillars in 2018 left some Ontario producers with 30 per cent less syrup than the year before.
Paul Renaud, who owns a sugar bush in Lanark Highlands, has been working with the maple syrup producers association to get producers to switch to carbon-neutral practices by making their sap evaporators more efficient. Efficient operations could encourage producers to tap more trees, making it unlikely for those trees to be cut down and therefore allowing more carbon to be stored in forests, he added.
Climate change is having a substantial effect on the maple syrup industry, Renaud said, and extreme weather events like windstorms can have devastating consequences. If a maple tree is blown over, it can take 40 years to grow another tree to the size required for tapping, he said.
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Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductions\u0022We\u0027ve always had winter thaws, but they\u0027ve become more significant in the last 20 years,\u0022 John Williams said in an interview.
Read more »
Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductions\u0022We\u0027ve always had winter thaws, but they\u0027ve become more significant in the last 20 years,\u0022 John Williams said in an interview.
Read more »
Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductions\u0022We\u0027ve always had winter thaws, but they\u0027ve become more significant in the last 20 years,\u0022 John Williams said in an interview.
Read more »
Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductions\u0022We\u0027ve always had winter thaws, but they\u0027ve become more significant in the last 20 years,\u0022 John Williams said in an interview.
Read more »
Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductionsIncreasingly unpredictable winter temperatures have Ontario maple syrup producers concerned about how climate change will affect the industry’s future, with…
Read more »
Ontario maple syrup producers hit by climate change, some urge carbon reductions\u0022We\u0027ve always had winter thaws, but they\u0027ve become more significant in the last 20 years,\u0022 John Williams said in an interview.
Read more »