Rudyard maple syrup producer Mike Ross has a reputation for being on the leading edge of new maple syrup technology. Vacuum pumps, reverse osmosis machines, elevated tubing systems and high-capacity evaporators: Ross not only uses it all, but sells the equipment to other maple syrup producers across the country.
"We spend more time puttering around in the woods than anybody else typically does," Ross says of what sets his family's
RMG Sugar Bush apart from the rest. "If there's a new innovation, we'll try it."
And he definitely believes in doing things the earth-friendly way, using American-made biodiesel to fuel his maple syrup operation, and tending his maple trees with attention to conservation as well as production.
"We've been doing it now for 25 years," he says. "We started out with just 25 taps in the backyard as a hobby -- It just kind of grew from there."
Maple syrup from Ross's 13,500 taps is distributed just about anywhere they eat maple syrup; Canada, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan are major consumers. It goes to retailers, food stores, and farmers markets, and sometimes to other maple syrup producers whose customers demand more than they can produce.
Production is not often an issue at the 12,000-square-foot Rudyard facility used for production, partly due to the new technology that allows Ross to pull as many as 85 to 90 gallons of sap each hour off the taps while processing. His usual maple syruping season results in 25,000 gallons of syrup.
That's even more impressive when you consider it is all made in a few short weeks when the sap runs in the early spring -- usually sometime in March in these parts. Maple syrupers must adjust their schedules to Mother Nature's, as the sap run depends on temperatures and weather.
This short production window means maple syrup is one of the state's agricultural crops that is always in demand, according to a Michigan State University Extension report from the forestry department. It says the industry is not expanding despite the fact that less than 1 percent of the available maple trees are being used.
Ross hopes to change that with the help of other voices, like that of Dave Kossak at
Michigan Technological University.
Kossak is a forestry student who took fourth place in a 2010 college competition for ideas to move Michigan forward with the help of Ross and some innovative ideas about the future of maple syruping in the state. Kossak wrote a proposal to help Michigan become the maple syrup capital of the world, and won a $5,000 scholarship for his efforts from the Motivate Michigan competition.
The key to this bold claim is the untapped potential Kossak and Ross see in the maple trees of Michigan. Right now, Quebec, Canada leads international maple syrup production, making anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of North American maple syrup each year. They do it by tapping about one out of every three sugar maples in the province.
But Michigan actually has more sugar maples than Quebec. Kossak points out the possibilities could give the state a significant boost.
"We could be producing more maple syrup than Quebec or Vermont -- the top U.S. producer," he says. "We could also become the production center for equipment used by the maple syrup manufacturers. This could be big for Michigan."
Ross says it all would depend on being able to tap more Michigan maples, because once that's possible, the cutting-edge technology available would mean Michigan could build a high-production industry from the ground up.
"If we were able to use that percentage of our trees, it would be worth several billion dollars to the state, not to mention spin-offs like manufacturing, equipment, related services, and tourism," he says.
That's the plan that Kossak is interested in, and hopes to further promote it, as a way to help Michigan revitalize its economy. He's studying the sustainable business and marketing aspects of forestry, and hopes to spread the maple syrup gospel at Michigan Tech, including the development of a larger sugar bush program, and even a certificate in maple syrup production down the line.
Kossak and Ross are hopeful that some encouragement to build this sweeter future might come from both the state and federal governments.
Nationally, a bill has been introduced that would boost maple syrup industries across the U.S., and Ross says Michigan would certainly benefit with its large numbers of maples. It's called the Maple Tapping Access Program Act, and would provide $20 million in federal stimulus funding each year for five years.
"We're hoping in the next year or two it will pass, and do a lot to promote maple syrup in the U.S.," he says.
As for more local help, Ross says what would help most is if the state would allow tapping on the large tracts of land it owns containing maples, although that has historically not been the state's position. He says it may be time to rethink that position in light of the need for new industry in Michigan.
"It's just another way to develop our economy," he says.
Kim Hoyum is a freelance writer based in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her credits include contributor to Geek Girl on the Street as well as a regular writer for Marquette Monthly. Hoyum is a graduate of Northern Michigan University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in writing.