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By Ted Cohen
Vermont’s Extension Maple Program has been awarded a grant from the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships to prevent farmers from misrepresenting the grade of their maple syrup.
The $199,942 will be used to establish lab testing and educational outreach to make sure low-grade syrup isn’t being marketed as the top grade, which is known as Grade A.
Over the past four years, University of Vermont Extension Service said it’s determined that some of the syrup being sold on the retail market as allegedly being top grade doesn’t meet Vermont Grade A standards.
The research confirms the findings of spot retail inspections published by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
“When syrup that fails to meet Grade A standards reaches the market, it can impact the entire industry,” UVM officials zaid. “Disappointed consumers may choose a different product or select syrup from a different region.”
Grade A quality is determined by color, clarity, density, and flavor.
The new lab is equipped with staff and instrumentation required to perform testing to discern syrup quality accurately and consistently.
The lab is housed at the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center, which has worked with the state’s maple producers for more than 75 years.
“The project represents a partnership with University of Vermont and Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association to offer long-needed quality-control services to Vermont producers for one of Vermont’s most iconic products,” UVM said.
“Maple syrup production is a cornerstone of Vermont’s agricultural economy and cultural heritage. The success and continued growth of Vermont maple syrup in the global marketplace relies on the industry’s ability to consistently deliver a top-quality product.”
The Maple Testing Lab is now open to begin receiving samples.
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Categories: Agriculture
Leahy Institute For Rural Partnerships????? Where do they get their funding and who is paying it???? Comment from Richard Day.
The best Vermont maple syrup: hand tapped trees, metal buckets, wood fired sugar house, canned in metal containers! Those were the days 😢 (Grade B dark for me!)
The blue plastic sucking tubes running the woods, being processed in a factory, and stored in plastic jugs: that must have something to do with outcome of the grade.
Jody, Like you I loved the Grade B dark, hated when they changed the grading system, find it confusing
But think of the lead you’re not consuming now. Those old pans and buckets and cans were soldered with lead solder. Thanks to modern technology you’ll now live to pay taxes much longer
More expenses for farmers…
Leahy? Blech. Stinking interference.
And agree that modern maple syrup methods are more than likely the true culprits.
Too much interference on what wasn’t broke until it was…
The trees are under much stress, this vacuum system can’t be entirely good, literally sucking the life out of the trees. This spring and the forth coming year after will be interesting. Weak trees will struggle to fight off pests and adverse weather.
Reducing production this year by 50% would be wise, but that is unlikely to happen, the trees are clearly stressed as seen in this years foliage, or rather lack there of.
Not knowing much about gathering syrup, question. Did the farmers rotate the trees when they used buckets, thus giving the trees a break for a year?
Wasn’t it the same people who changed the grading system a while back? I think it’s silly to go after producers for a labeling mistake. It’s great if they want to alert the producer to their mistake and give them resources to retrain their staff on the new grading system, but any more than that is silly.
I thought the story would be about going after companies that sell artificial flavored syrup as real. That would make more sense.
Hand tapped trees, wood fired arch, and First run Fancy is the best (for pancakes), most rare, and hardest to produce. It should be the most valuable.
As a long time sugar maker, I can attest that meeting the grade standard is very complicated for small producers. A batch can test right directly when it is done cooking — and slide off grade during the canning process. And the conditions of storing product can also result in degradation. There are some deliberate misrepresentations, but it is not common. I always tried to enter my product for the County field days, because I had no easy way to get a second opinion.