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Producer Events

Springtime in Vermont

Steam rising from the Sugarhouse

Online Registrations

Sugarmakers can now fill out the VMSMA membership form Online.
Sugarmakers - sign up for inclusion in Maple Open House Weekend and a listing on the VermontMaple.org Website
Hospitality Partners - sign up for a listing on the VermontMaple.org Website
Free Subscription to Farming Magazine www.farmingmagazine.com

ATTENTION SUGARMAKERS: View Procedures for Neutralizing Maple Wash Water and Maple Certification Requirements.

VERMONT FARM SHOW ENTRIES

The farm show is being held in Essex Jct., Vt this year. Here are the following drop points for products in the central and northeastern areas:

Extension office St. Johnsbury, Vt . It is located on Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury. It is on the second floor, in the rear of the building block that has the furniture store, art store and frogs & lillipads store on the furniture store end. You can access the parking lot behind the building directly from Railroad street on both sides of the building. Entries will be leaving there monday morning.

Goodrich's Maple Farm located on US RT 2 in Cabot, Vt. Entries need to be there by 9 am Monday

Bragg Farm located on RT 14 N in East Montpelier, Vt. Entries need to be there by 9 am Monday

Extension office Berlin, Vt. Entries need to be there by 9 am Monday Take Grainger road to the end by the airport runway, turn left and it is the first building complex on your left.

Extension office in Morrisville, Vt. 29 Sunset Drive, Suite 2 Entries need to be there by noon monday. 802-888-4972

There are new entry tags this year. There will hopefully be some at the drop off points. Or, contact Henry Marckres at 828-3458 to have them mailed to you. If you do not have tags, Make sure an index card with your name, address, phone number and item description is attached securely to the container. Syrup entries should be placed in CLEAN, NEW pint canning jars. Jars will not be returned. See the Farm Show website for info on categories. We encourage all producers to enter their maple syrup, maple products and other agricultural items for competition. www.vtfarmshow.com

Vermont Farm Show - See our booth and other maple equipment displays

The new location for the Vermont Farm Show will be at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, Vermont. January 24-26th, 2012. Bring the family and see what's happening in Agriculture. Vendors for all types of agricultural items and equipment. This is a huge facility with FREE ADMISSION and FREE AMPLE PARKING! Handicapped accessible. Also, Conusmer night is back - see our maple section. For more info www.vtfarmshow.com

Vermont Farm Show Banquet & Annual Meeting

Notice is hereby given to all members, directors and delegates of the VMSMA that the Annual Meeting will be held on Tuedsay, January 24th, 2012 at the Vermont Farm Show at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex, VT with the banquet beginning at 12 pm. A stuffed chicken breast dinner will be catered by Bill Wetherbee's Catering from Colchester, Vt Tickets are $16 each and available for perchase at the VMSMA booth or by calling for reserve tickets: Mary Croft 802-763-7435 or email mcmaple@wildblue.com. Notice is hereby given that there will be a meeting of the directors of the VMSMA immediately following the annual meeting.

VERMONT MAPLE SCHOOL REGISTRATIONS

Sugarmakers can register online for the Bellows Falls and Hyde Park Maple Conferences, or print out this Registration Form (pdf) and mail the form with your payment.
Sugarmakers interested in the Middlebury Maple Conference should print out this Registration Form (pdf) and mail the form with your payment.

VERMONT MAPLE CONFERENCES

JANUARY 14, 21 and FEBRUARY 4, 2012

The University of Vermont Extension, Addison County Maple Sugarmakers Association and Vermont Maple Syrup Makers’ Association are pleased to offer the 9th annual Vermont Maple Conferences on Saturday January 14 and 21 and Saturday February 4, 2012. The conferences are educational meetings held for the purpose of bringing the latest information and research findings about forest management, sap collection, syrup production, quality control, and marketing to sugarmakers in Vermont and surrounding regions. These all day meetings, which are designed to provide education for maple producers of all levels of skill and experience, are open to the public. Classes are taught by scientists, natural resource professionals and sugarmakers from around the state. Meetings also feature a trade show with vendors displaying maple related equipment and a lunch with a maple theme. These meetings are widely perceived to be among the best educational opportunities for sugarmakers in the US and Canada

Registration tables will be set up from 7:30 am through noontime. The trade show will also be open at that time.

Sat., Jan. 14, Middlebury Union H.S., Middlebury
Location: off US Rt. 7 just south of the village. Lunch will feature a ham or pork roast dinner with vegetarian option and maple dessert.

Sat., Jan. 21, Lamoille Union High School, Hyde Park
Location: West side entrance to Lamoille Union High School, US Rt. 15 in Hyde Park. Lunch will be catered by the Culinary Arts program and will feature Maple Bourbon Roast Pork, with all the fixings.

Sat., Feb. 4, Bellows Falls Union High School
Location: off US Rt. 5, just south of Bellows Falls.

Lunch will feature ham dinner with salad & desert by the Freshman class & parents.

Pre-Registrations must be postmarked by: December 31 (Middlebury), January 7 (Hyde Park), January 21 (Bellows Falls) Thank You! Registrations postmarked by these dates will be assured of a meal, if selected and paid for. Lunch for Walk-ins or registrations postmarked after these dates will be served on a first come, first served basis. Please help us by registering early.

Please Note: The registration form for the January 14^th conference in Middlebury is only available to download and mail in.

The registration forms for the Jan. 21^stconference in Hyde Park and the Feb. 4^th conference in Bellows Falls are available to either download and mail in or to fill out and pay online

Special needs: If you require an accommodation to participate in this program, please notify Mary Croft, secretary/treasurer of the VMSMA, at 802-763-7435

You are welcome to attend all of the various meetings. We have developed a very inclusive agenda, with classes for all levels. We sincerely hope this program will be beneficial to you and your maple operation. A drop box for conference evaluations will be provided as you exit.

Classes for Middlebury H.S January 14 (More information is available at http://www.uvm.edu/extension/maple/mainline/maple_mainline_dec11.pdf )

The Beginning Sugarmaker
Not in Our Backyard!
Sugarhouse Inspections
Update on Current Maple Research
Taphole Sanitation: How it Affects Sap Yield
Filtering
The Game of Logging
High Vacuum Without a Pump
Two Taps vs One: A Look at Sap Yields
Spouts and Tapping
Got Visitors?
Woods Management
Land Use/Current Use
Marketing Your Products
Modern Vacuum Systems
R/O Systems

Classes for Lamoille Union January 21^st and Bellows Falls February 4^th (More information is available at http://www.uvm.edu/extension/maple/mainline/maple_mainline_dec11.pdf )

Guaranteeing Food Safety
Two Taps vs One: A look at Sap Yields
Customer Relations
Tapping Techniques: A Panel Discussion
How to be Successful in Getting a Farm Loan
Impacts of Reverse Osmosis on Syrup Quality and Flavor
The New Maple Grading System and Identifying Maple Off-Flavors
Update on Current Maple Research
Taphole Sanitation: How it Affects Sap Yield
Sugarbush Leases (Bellows Falls only)
Roads in the Sugarbush
Impact of Tubing and New Technologies on Maple Syrup Flavor (Hyde Park only)
High Vacuum Without a Pump
Sugarbush Health: Now and in the Future
Forty-Six Years of Marketing Bliss
Techniques for the Beginning and Backyard Sugarmaker
Installing a Vacuum Tubing System
Cleaning Evaporators: A Panel Discussion
Boiling Techniques and High Sap Concentration
Energy Sources for Boiling Sap (Hyde Park only)
Cooking with Maple

Mercury Thermometer Exchange Program

The Vermont Agency of Agriculture is seeking Vermont maple sugar producers interested in exchanging their mercury thermometer for a digital thermometer. Phase I of this program in 2007 was a great success, with over 200 mercury thermometers removed from maple sugar houses and disposed of safely, thanks to assistance from the Chittenden County Solid Waste District in Burlington, Vermont.

This year, the Agency along with the University of Vermont Extension obtained grant funding from the Lake Champlain Basin Program in 2010 to finance an exchange for an additional 250. Participation in this program is an important step in reducing the number of mercury filled thermometers now being used in the maple industry. If a producer were ever to accidentally break a mercury thermometer in a batch of maple syrup or in a piece of maple processing equipment, it could cost hundreds of dollars to dispose of the contaminated material. The thermometer you will receive in exchange is a digital thermometer, capable of reading in increments of 0.1 degree Fahrenheit at temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.If you are interested in swapping out a mercury thermometer for a digital replacement, you have four options available to you.

1. Please contact Annie Macmillan at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture at 802-

828-3479, or email her at anne.macmillan@state.vt.us, to arrange your exchange at the Vermont Agency of Agriculture office in Montpelier during normal working hours.

2. You may also exchange your mercury thermometer at your local Solid Waste District (see http://www.anr.state.vt.us/dec/wastediv/solid/swmdlist.htm.

3.         Bring your old thermometer to the Farm Show Champlain Valley Exposition,105 Pearl St. Essex    Junction, Jan 24-26, 2012 at VAAFM’s booth.

4.        Lastly, you may bring your mercury thermometers to the Winter Maple Schools on the following    dates and locations: January 14, 2012 - Middlebury High School, Middlebury,
            January 21, 2012 - Lamoille Union High School, Hyde Park,
            February 4, 2012 - Bellows Falls Union High School, Bellows Falls.

Got Photos?

If you have photos you would like to share with VMSMA for promotion, please send them to Mary Croft, 491 E. Barnard Road, S. Royalton, Vt 05068 or electronic media: mcmaple@wildblue.net

Proposed Guidelines for Voluntary Certification

Requirements for certification of maple operations, written by a committee of the Vermont Maple
Industry Council: Jacques Couture, Richard Green, Haven King, Elissa Valentine and Tim Wilmot,
UVM Extension, chair. August, 2011.

Mission Statement:

A guarantee of food safety is extremely important in order to protect the fine
reputation of Vermont maple syrup. The rules proposed here, when followed, will offer syrup customers the assurance that the maple operation has made food safety the highest priority.

Sap Collecting:

Sugarmakers who use materials that contain lead, including but not limited to galvanized buckets, tanks
and lead-soldered evaporators, will be subject to random testing of their syrup for lead from a sealed
container. The testing will be paid for by the sugarmaker. Sap collecting may not be done using materials not meant for food or potable water contact. This includes the use of buckets that originally held non-food materials. Rusty and/or painted buckets and tanks are not allowable. Tin buckets are not allowable. No container, tank, etc that once contained food allergen, such as milk, should be allowed to contact sap or syrup unless properly cleaned. Anything used to clean tubing should be approved for that purpose. The dilution, the method of rinsing, and the method of testing whether the cleaner has been fully rinsed out will be specified. Compressors used with air/water washing should have a settling bowl so as not to introduce oil or fumes into the tubing. Sap transfer pumps, or any vacuum pump where the sap contacts the pump should be made from materials suitable for potable water. Bronze gear pumps may not be used for pumping sap. Any vacuum system must include a check valve between the pump and the releaser.

Sap filtering & pre-concentrating:

Pool filters used for filtering sap must use clean sand and/or food grade diatomaceous earth. Other sap filters must consist of clean, odor free, food grade materials. All Sugarmakers must take a course in the proper use, storage and disposal of chemicals, and they must demonstrate proficiency by a written test after the course is completed. Periodic retesting may be required. The course will cover chemicals which may be used for cleaning tubing & evaporators, as well as for cleaning and storing RO membranes. Sugarmakers must test whether the cleaning materials are safely removed from the RO, so that they will not contaminate sap. Sugarmakers must keep in a readily accessible place the current MSDS sheets for all chemicals used in production, such as cleaners & filter aid. All chemicals must remain in their original containers with the label & lot code intact until they are used.

Boiling:

Galvanized boiling pans are forbidden. All evaporators, whether made by a maple equipment
manufacturer or “home-made” must be constructed with materials suitable for food or potable water
contact. Only approved defoamers, containing no allergens, can be used in the evaporator.

Syrup Filtering, Storage & Packaging:

All syrup should be filtered using industry approved filters and filtering methods. These include the use of: mold free, odor-free cloth and paper filters, food grade diatomaceous earth, and food grade lubricant for filter press pumps. Bulk storage containers must be used as they are intended, and must be made from materials suitable for food or potable water contact. All containers of all sizes must be inspected prior to filling to ensure they are clean and free from debris. Proper coding and recordkeeping are required for each container that is sold.

Sugarhouse Sanitation:

The sugarhouse interior must be clean and free from flaking paint or other loose debris that could enter
the sap or syrup. Sap and syrup may not contact mold or moldy surfaces anywhere in the sugarhouse during production. Sugarhouse floors may be gravel, wood concrete or other materials that are cleanable and/or can be drained; dirt floors are not allowed. Producers should take steps to ensure that debris does not fall into a sap tank or syrup pans. Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers etc must not be kept in the same room as sap or syrup. Chemicals used for cleaning maple equipment must be stored in a safe manner. Any petroleum product should be contained in a manner to prevent contamination by spills or fumes anywhere near sap or syrup. The exhaust from a pump or motor must be isolated so that it does not contaminate the sap and syrup. Lights must be protected by slip-on tubes, shatterproof coatings, or shields wherever they are exposed to sap or syrup. Any water which contacts equipment used for handling or storage of sap or syrup must be potable. A hand washing station consisting of flowing potable water, soap, and single use towels must be located in the sugarhouse for use prior to handling equipment that contacts sap or syrup.

VMSMA BY-LAWS

VMSMA By-Laws as approved June 2011 (pdf - click to download)