Sweet Talk: All Things Maple

This month, Adam interviews Dr. Tim Perkins, director of UVM's Proctor Maple Research Center. Topics range from best tapping practices and techniques, to the truth about tapping myths, and updates on the development of a new kind of spout. Just in time for tapping season. You can find plenty of recent maple research findings and the newly published 3rd edition of the North American Maple Syrup Pro...

Aaron interviews Derek Simmonds, a Business Development Specialist at the NYS Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, Cornell AgriTech. They talk about the resources available for product development at the Center of Excellence in Geneva, NY, and about the steps a business owner should take when developing a new food product. Check out what the Center of Excellence has to offer at https://c...

Aaron interviews Mark Cannella who is an associate professor at the University of Vermont where he serves as the Farm Business Management Specialist. The interview covers many of the challenges facing maple producers regarding economics and business management, but it also provides a ton of information on the resources available to producers coming out of the University of Vermont Extension Progra...

In this episode, Adam interviews Mike Rechlin who is the Maple Commodities Specialist at Future Generations University in West Virginia. Instead of the usual maple sweet talk, today they discuss walnut syrup, an equally sweet but newer alternative tree syrup whose production poses some unique challenges. Adam also discloses some of his most recent research findings while experimenting with making...

In this episode, Adam interviews representatives from two major bulk maple syrup buying and packing operations: Butternut Mountain Farm in Vermont, and Bascom Maple Farms in New Hampshire. Both businesses have their own sugaring operations, on top of purchasing syrup from other producers and distributing it to customers like major grocery store chains and large food manufacturing businesses. Adam...

In this episode, Aaron interviews two guests: Catherine Belisle, PhD, the new food scientist at the Cornell Maple Program, and Christian Mercado Acevedo, MFS, a Cornell Food Science graduate and food and beverage consultant. Together, they developed a new maple product this year called Mappleau, an after-dinner drink who's name and production methods were inspired by Pommeau.  You can reach C...

In this episode, Aaron and Adam answer some of the most frequently asked questions they receive from both maple producers and maple consumers. This is the first Q&A style episode of the series, and we intend to produce more. To have your question featured on the show, visit the Sweet Talk webpage at CornellMaple.com (https://blogs.cornell.edu/cornellmaple/sweettalk/). Episode produced by Ailis...

This month, Aaron Wightman interviews two guests with perspectives on urban sugaring opportunities. First is Kristina Ferrare, the Forestry Program Specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension - Onondaga County, based in Syracuse, NY. After learning about the educator's perspective on urban sugaring, Aaron seeks out a practitioner in a suburban neighborhood in Ithaca, NY. Greg Albrecht is the found...

This month, Adam Wild interviews Mark Isselhardt, Maple Specialist at the University of Vermont Extension. Mark has a lot of experience tasting and assessing maple syrup from his time educating maple producers at grading schools, judging syrups at maple contests, and researching impacts to syrup quality at the Proctor Maple Research Center. We hope his insight will help all you sugarmakers improve...

This month, Aaron Wightman interviews two burgeoning young sugarmakers of the maple industry's next generation - Damian Hill of Shaver-Hill Maple Farm in Harpersfield, NY, and Andrea Caluori of Little Mouse Farm & Studio in Ashfield, MA. Damian grew up in a maple producing family and is the third generation of Hills to continue growing the business. Andrea is a first-generation farmer and an a...

This month, Adam Wild interviews Abby van den Berg, a tree physiologist and maple researcher at the University of Vermont - Proctor Maple Research Center. An expert on the effects of maple sugaring on the health and growth of maple trees, Abby recently conducted research on how "early" tapping affects our trees in the long run. Is it worth it to tap earlier than your usual tapping date? Or will so...

This month, Aaron Wightman interviews three agroforestry, or "forest farming", specialists who double as educators with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). These three guests have been instrumental in the formation of a statewide agroforestry work team that connects CCE educators and researchers with the goal of improving the availability of resources to those interested in adopting some of these...

This month, co-directors of the Cornell Maple Program, Aaron Wightman and Adam Wild, reflect on the past season of maple tubing and taphole longevity research. They give background information on the recent history of this type of research conducted by the program and then shed light on the newest findings that could help solve the problems facing 3/16" tubing systems. Episode produced by Ailis Cl...

In this follow-up episode, Adam Wild interviews Dr. Jonathan Tremblay, an associate professor of kinesiology and human kinetics (AKA exercise science) at the University of Montreal. He is the first to research the effects of maple in "clinical trials", which, as Dr. Seeram explained, are research experiments done with human subjects. This type of research is crucial to understanding the benefits a...

This episode, Adam Wild interviews Dr. Navindra Seeram, a natural product chemist at the University of Rhode Island whose research focuses on maple and human health benefits. His research has identified unique polyphenols to maple, and resulted in a nutraceutical maple syrup extract (MSX). Dr. Seeram addresses myths and anecdotes about maple's beneficial health effects that have not been proven by...

This week, Aaron Wightman interviews two guests with different, yet compatible perspectives on sugarbush management.  Peter Smallidge is the New York State Extension Forester, and Director of the Arnot Forest, and has been involved with maple research and extension since the late 90's. We asked Peter to discuss his research pertaining to syrup production optimization and forest regeneration.&...

This week, Adam Wild interviews his predecessor at the Uihlein Maple Research Forest, Mike Farrell, now CEO and co-founder of the Forest Farmers and New Leaf Tree Syrups. They talk about everything from ways to get the most out of your production equipment, to the production of syrups from alternative trees: birch, beech, walnut. Episode produced by Ailis Clyne Music - Long and Low Cloud by Blue D...

In this episode, Aaron Wightman, Co-Director of the Cornell Maple Program at the Arnot Forest, interviews Steve Childs, his predecessor. Steve served as the New York State Maple Extension Specialist since 2004 and has worked for Cornell Cooperative Extension since 1986. During his extensive career, he played a huge role in making the maple industry what it is today by researching and providing edu...

Get to know your hosts, co-directors of the Cornell Maple Program Aaron Wightman and Adam Wild. In this episode, they discuss past, present, and future research at the two CMP research sites, Arnot Forest in Van Etten, and Uihlein Forest in Lake Placid. They also make projections about the future of the maple industry, wax poetic about the coming maple season, and give a sweet taste of what's to c...