Dignitaries and maple syrup producers from across the region gathered at Sugarstone Farm-Maple Syrup in Trout Creek on Saturday, celebrating the first maple syrup tree tapping ceremony of the season.
The event was hosted in combination with the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association and the Algonquin Maple Syrup Producers Association.
“There are many maple syrup tapping ceremonies all over North America, but this particular one is to celebrate the province of Ontario,” explained Bill Hubbert, director of the Algonquin Branch of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association, and owner of Hubbert’s Maple Products.
The event was also used as the backdrop to announce that the Algonquin Maple Syrup Producers Association is hosting the 2024 annual meeting and summer tour from July 17 to July 20 in North Bay.
“It doesn’t matter if it is an old technique or a new technique, there is always something to learn from other people. It could be as many as 17,000 taps or as few as four trees, there is always something to be learned, tips to pick up from other people,” shared Hubbert.
The host local for the annual meeting and tour are responsible for the Provincial First Tapping ceremony which took place at Sugarstone Farm.
The last time the provincial event was held in the area was in 2012 in Huntsville.
“Each year there is a provincial annual meeting and a summer tour and each year it is hosted by a different local of the 11 locals of maple syrup producers around the province of Ontario,” shared Hubbert.
In attendance will be guest speakers from the University of Vermont and the University of Toronto.
The summer tour event will take participants to sugar bushes extending from Burks Falls to Lavigne.
Sugarstone Farm-Maple Syrup is one of the planned stops.
“We move it around the province, that gives us an opportunity to see what’s going on in other people’s sugar bushes,” said Hubbert.
”Normally on a summer tour, we would have somewhere between 250 and 300 participants. It is a real contributor to tourism for North Bay. We like to encourage people to stay a little longer or come back for another visit.”
Looking forward to this summer’s event is the President of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association, who attended Saturday’s tapping ceremony.
“It is about producers coming together to help each other. We have great potential in the province of Ontario for increasing the amount of syrup that we produce,” Randall Goodfellow told the crowd.
“Quebec makes 90 per cent of the maple syrup in Canada, we make 3 per cent, and yet we have twice the number of maple trees. So, we need people to want to do it, it is such a great opportunity. We’ve been working closely with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. We have a lot of demand from maple syrup producers to improve their operations.”
It was pointed out that the provincial government has provided funding for individual producers to access, to help stimulate the industry.
Parry Sound-Muskoka MPP Graydon Smith, who also serves as the Ontario Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry congratulated the producers for the work they do in the province.
“You develop an appreciation for how much work, dedication, time, and craftsmanship goes into doing this work, and really growing an industry here in Ontario that is built on the passion of the people who are doing it,” Smith remarked.
“You are contributing so much to the province and our cultural identity. As Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, I am thankful that the trees in Ontario can contribute something so wonderful to all of us. It is on the backs of everybody that has that passion and that drive to make this industry what it is in Ontario. And as a government, we will keep on assisting where we can.”
The start of the tree-tapping tradition included a smudging ceremony and prayers guided by Peter Beaucage and Mary Dokis
“The maple tree is a gift from the creator for us, First Nations medicines come to us from the maple tree and also the syrup that gives us food,” shared Dokis.
Host Andy Straughan, co-owner of Sugarstone Farm-Maple Syrup says he is hopeful this season will produce a good yield.
“Last year was very dependent on where you were geographically in Ontario. The season started quite late in some locations. For example, we did very well last year compared to some producers just a few kilometres away who did not do very well. So, it was very weather dependent, and where you were situated essentially,” said Straughan.
”We’re probably almost two if not three weeks ahead of what we normally are at this time of year. We’re typically tapping our trees right now with the assumption the season will start around this area at the beginning of March. We just collected about 14 hundred gallons of sap this week which is very abnormal. We don’t have any hard frost in the ground right now which typically means that the season will have a very fast start when the weather does start to cooperate, the sap will flow fairly quickly.”
The producer says they like to have a lot of moisture in the ground.
“We do have that because we have had rain over the wintertime, we had a wet fall, and we still do have snow in the bush, so that is great for sap flow.”
The season typically lasts a month, if not a little bit more.
“We never really know until it is over. It is farming, and we’re heavily reliant on Mother Nature.”
