Weather Blamed For Drop In Maple Syrup Production

LITCHFIELD (AP) — Agriculture officials say the unusually warm spring switched sugar maples early from making sap to blooming their buds, lowering maple syrup production in four Connecticut counties by 30 percent.

Governor M. Jodi Rell says the drop has prompted the government to offer federal disaster loans to maple syrup producers and small farm-related businesses in Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven and Windham Counties.

About 200 maple syrup producers in Connecticut made about 13,000 gallons in 2009, but only 9,000 this year.

The US Department of Agriculture says nationwide, maple syrup production dropped 19 percent because of the warm spring. Vermont is the nation’s largest maple producer with a 2010 crop of 890,000 gallons.