Yesterday was a big day for sap! The sun and warm temperatures really got the trees flowing and we had over 35,000 gallons of sap delivered from our other 3 properties. That doesn’t include the 10,000+ gallons pumped from this property. We also ended the day with 3,500 gallons in the sap truck because we didn’t have room to unload it.

We have been using webcams for several years to keep an eye on tank levels in order to prevent sap from overflowing. We also have webcams in the pump houses so we can see the vacuum level for each property. This year we’re experimenting with wireless vacuum monitors at the end of each line. Stay tuned!

After what seemed like forever we finally had a sap run yesterday! Even though the air was 55°F the ground and trees were still mostly frozen. We did end up with around two thirds of a gallon of sap at all four of our properties though. We were able to get the vacuum levels up to 80% of our ultimate target while verifying our new equipment works. It’s much easier to leak check while sap is flowing. Today we’ll work in the sugar shack while it’s frozen, but this weekend looks promising.

Dexter was supervising this morning’s sap drop off