BRATTLEBORO — Vermont takes its maple syrup seriously, so one would expect that changing grading standards that have been in place for decades would meet with some resistance.
A proposal is in the works by the Vermont Maple Sugarmakers Association (VMSA) to bring the state's grading system in line with the International Maple Syrup Institute's (IMSI) grading system.
The letter grades now used by Vermont sugarmakers - Grade A Fancy, Grade A Medium Amber, Grade A Dark Amber, Grade B, and Grade C - would be replaced by the IMSI grades of Golden, Amber, Dark and Very Dark. All would be rated Grade A by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA plans to adopt these new standards in 2013, but Vermont is weighing them carefully.
Some Vermont sugarmakers are afraid that the IMSI grades might detract from the state's reputation for high quality maple syrup. Others believe the new system simplifying the grades would make buying maple products less confusing for non-Vermonters, and make it easier to sell maple syrup to international markets.
The new grading system was the main topic of discussion at the Windham County Maple Association's annual meeting on Nov. 7. For the most part, the sugarmakers in attendance grudgingly supported the IMSI grades, but wanted to make sure that the standards that make Vermont maple products distinctive - and profitable - were maintained.
Grading for flavor, and color
Explaining the proposed standards was Henry Marckres, Consumer Protection Section Chief for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. He admitted that Vermont “is very passionate about its [maple] grades, but so is every other state.”
The problem, Marckres said, is that among American states that produce maple products, there are no consistent grading standards. The result is that many consumers are confused about what they are buying. While a sugarmaker can patiently explain the difference between Fancy, Amber, and Grade B to a March visitor to his or her sugarhouse, it's a little harder when the syrup is sitting on a grocer's shelf.
“These new grades are for consumers,” said Marckres. “Most people don't understand our grading, or the different flavors. Some people think Fancy is cane syrup, while others wonder if Grade B is any good.”
That's why the four new IMSI grades would come with flavor descriptors, Marckres said.
• Golden - equivalent to Vermont Fancy - is described as having a delicate taste.
• Amber - which would encompass the current Grade A Medium Amber and the top level of Grade A Dark Amber - is described as having a rich taste.
• Dark - which would include the lower level of Dark Amber and Grade B - is described as having a robust taste.
• Very Dark is a new class which would be roughly equivalent to Vermont Grade C, or commercial-grade syrup. It is described as having a strong taste.
Marckres said the way Vermont would maintain its reputation for maple syrup under the new system would be to continue to maintain higher density standards for syrup.
Currently, maple syrup in Vermont must have a minimum soluble solids percentage of 66 percent, and a maximum of 68.9 percent. By law, it is required to be free of additives and preservatives.
Also part of the new standard is code-dating batches of syrup, so it would easier to trace a contaminated or sub-standard bottling run.
Long-time local maple producer Arnold Coombs is a representative of the Vermont Maple Industry Council. He served on the panel that set the IMSI standards, and said that the best part about the new standards is that it increases the value of the maple crop.
Grade C syrup, which is usually sold by the barrel at low prices to maple processors for flavoring foods, now can be sold for $15 a quart to consumers as Very Dark syrup, Coombs said.
And Vermont Fancy will not disappear. Marckres and Coombs said that public sentiment is overwhelmingly in favor of keeping those words on future labels.
Three public hearings were held in Middlebury, South Woodstock, and Hyde Park last month to take testimony on the new standards for the Agency of Agriculture. The agency is taking public comment until Dec. 1 by email at Noelle.Sevoian@state.vt.us.
According to Agriculture Secretary Chuck Ross, the agency will review all comments received by the public, and then make a decision by early January that includes any of the following courses of action: begin the process of amending the current maple regulations as requested by the VMSA, which could include modifications to the original proposal; recommend that the Legislature amend the maple statutes in 2013; or determine that no changes are currently warranted.
If changes to the current maple grading standards are pursued, Ross said that the changes would not be effective until the 2014 maple season at the earliest.
Maple keeps growing
The wild temperature swings of February and March of this year led to the worst year for maple production in Vermont in a decade. The final total of 750,000 gallons in 2012 represented a 34 percent decline from the 1.14 million gallons produced in 2011.
Yet, according to Tim Perkins, director of the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center, Vermont sugarmakers produced more maple syrup in 2012 than in any year between 1970 to 2000.
Sugarmaking is now a $130 million industry in Vermont, and that's because production methods have greatly improved over the past 40 years. While sugarmakers can't control the weather, they can wring a little more production out of their sap lines.
Also, said Marckres, the number of trees being tapped in Vermont has tripled over that period, and the sap production per tap has doubled.
A big part of last Wednesday's meeting covered taps and sap lines, and the various ways producers can increase yields.
Perkins said the biggest factors affecting maple yields - apart from the weather - are proper sanitation of taps and tubing; the layout, installation, and management of the vacuum system; and tapping factors such as the size and overall health of the tree.
Replacing the spouts and vacuum tubing every year would insure 100 percent efficiency, Perkins said, but few sugarmakers can afford to do this. At the same time, yields from spouts and lines that are cleaned and maintained regularly drop to 70 percent after three years.
Sugarmakers thus have to balance the expense of upgrading equipment against the reduction in syrup production.