New York's maple industry has been gaining more ground recently. On Friday, farmers received a little more help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Our Karen Lee reports on how a new grant will allow them to meet rising demands for New York maple syrup.
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CAZENOVIA, N.Y. -- Though it's pumpkin season right now, at Critz Farm in Cazenovia, they're always thinking ahead. And in early spring, there's no business quite like the maple syrup business.
"Pretty much by Christmas, we're sold out every year. We don't have all the sizes we need, we don't have enough quantity," said Matthew Critz, the Critz Farm owner.
"Today New York's maple industry is made up of over 1,500 commercial maple producers, ranging in size from just a couple hundred taps to 15 or even 20,000 taps. Last year, our industry made over 360,000 gallons of pure maple syrup," said Mary Jean Packer, the New York State Maple Producers Association Executive Director.
To help meet that growing demand, local maple farms are getting some help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. More than $30,000 in grants were presented Friday to area farms, including Critz. The money will be used to purchase reverse osmosis machines. The machine takes a significant amount of water out of the sap, which means less time to boil it down to maple.
"Same amount of wood, same amount of labor, we'll get triple to almost four times the production," said Critz.
Proponents say it's all part of a statewide and nationwide initiative to help rural farmers who have been going through some tough times lately.
"This is an ongoing commitment to rural America. Rural development is the economic development arm of the USDA and the new administration and the new secretary, Tom Vilsack, are committed to restoring, bringing more wealth to the rural communities and enhancing the quality of life," said Jill Harvey, the USDA rural development state director.
Farmers will now order the new machines and they'll be ready to go for next spring's maple season.
The reverse osmosis machines are also said to be more environmentally friendly by reducing energy use by as much as 87 percent.