DENMARK (NBC 26) — Some call maple syrup an essential addition to their breakfast plate. For some farms, it's a big business.
In one forest southwest of Denmark, Jeff Skarda and his family have about 1500 syrup taps.
When conditions are right, they can harvest about a gallon of sap per tap.
But, like most agricultural businesses, they're at Mother Nature's mercy when it comes to deciding when they can actually harvest.
He says the best conditions for harvesting are after cold nights in the 20s followed by a warmer day with highs in the 40s..
"Think of an ice cube as it freezes, it expands; it's the liquid in the tree that's freezing that causes the sap from the soil to go up the tree while it's freezing," explained Skarda.
"Then as the tree thaws out then it recedes back into the ground, and we're just harvesting just a fraction of that liquid out of the tree."
Starting in mid to late February, maple syrup season usually lasts 6 to 8 weeks, but Jeff says there's only about 15 days in that span when they can actually harvest.
"We don't get to plan. 'Oh, we're going to do maple syrup on Saturday or on Friday.' It's really whenever the season's right," said Skarda.
He says those days are busy since you can't precisely plan them on a calendar.
"We do want to process that fairly quickly. The quicker you process it, the higher-quality product you're making. Similar to milk, sap will also spoil if you don't process it quick enough," said Skarda.
Skarda Maple Farms says this year's harvest will be in bottles and on shelves by mid-March.
