CELEBRATING MAPLE

Maple King touts state’s sweetest agricultural product

CANASTOTA, N.Y. » March is Maple Month in CNY, and the state’s 18 year-old Maple King from Canastota, Kyle Hale, wants residents to know more about one of NY’S sweetest agricultural products.

In a non-pandemic setting, Maple Month is usually filled with production tours, maple weekends, pancake breakfasts, and a whole lot of syrup going into the hands (and mouths) of residents.

“We have the biggest variety of maple products in the country, in NY,” Hale said.

Like last year, many events have been canceled in 2021, he explained, but that doesn’t mean maple celebrations and awareness has to stop, too.

Maple producers, both small and large, have been hitting the woods this time of year to tap their trees and start the long process of concentrating the tree’s sugar into a delicious, pure syrup.

New York is home to the largest resource of tappable maple trees within the United States, officials say, and they estimate there to be over 2,000 maple sugarmakers within the state.

Syrup is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the maple industry, Hale says. Today, maple syrup has left its mark on just about any product imaginable: mustard, hot sauces, BBQ sauces, infused cinnamon sticks, peanuts, cotton candy, ice cream, dog treats, coffee, and so much more.

Maple milk, made by Collin’s Creamery in Rome, is a must-try, Hale says. Dougherty Pharmacy in Morrisville sells it, and so does The Local Market in Taberg.

So where should people go to get these maple products? Hale recommends seeking out items at farmers markets, food stores, farm stands, or going right to the source and visiting a local producer’s site.

An incomplete list of local maple makers include:

• Cedarvale Maple (Syracuse, NY)

• Dutch Hill Maple (Tully, NY)

• Tibbits Maple (Clinton, NY)

• Shaw’s Maple (Clinton, NY)

• On Target Maple (Vernon, NY)

• Many Maples Farm (Georgetown, NY)

Some of these producers sell on site, or their products can be found in local stores.

Visit each producer’s website to learn more. Tibbits is a fifth generation maple producer, Hale said.

Nelson Farms located just outside of Cazenovia on Route 20 sells a lot of different maple products including salad dressing, chocolate bars, jelly, and granola.

To spread awareness on all things maple sugar, Hale, along other youth maple ambassadors around the country who together formed a partnership last year known as the Maple Coalition, have started an educational program called “Pass the Maple Challenge.”

Each ambassador “passes” each other a jug of maple syrup and posts a video on their state’s Maple Association social media with their jug, sharing a fun fact about maple syrup, then nominating someone else to share their own fact. The Maple Coalition’s reach stretches from New York, down to Pennsylvania, west to Wisconsin, and is always looking to grow.

The group hopes to get the public tagging each other in the challenge and sharing the respective videos on their news feeds. Deadline for the maple challenge is April 24.

Follow NYS Maple Royalty on Instagram, @nysmapleroyalty, and the NYS Maple Association on Facebook for more information and updates.

“One thing people don’t realize about maple is how healthy it is for you. It’s a natural sugar. It contains so many vital nutrients. You wouldn’t think something so sweet like that would be healthy for you … but maple is good for a lot of stuff. I use it as a sweetener in my coffee,” Hale said, adding that everything should be taken in moderation.

According to NYS Maple,

Maple syrup is rich in nutrients like manganese and riboflavin.

When he’s not talking maple, Hale is studying agricultural business at SUNY Cobleskill and working on small-scale maple production as a hobby.

An educational tool available in NY that Hale is especially proud to be a part of is “The Maple Experience” trailer.

“It’s got the whole process from start to finish, and it showcases all of the unique products that we have to offer in NYS … It’s got an evaporator, it’s got some trees in there, it shows the tubing, and we’ve got different stations set up,” Hale shared of the trailer. It’s been used to present maple education to different schools and groups from the Bronx to Buffalo.

At one point, Hale gave a tour of the trailer to over 30 different NYS assemblymembers.

Keith Schiebel, an Oneida County legislator who is also the special project coordinator for NYS Maple, is in charge of the trailer, Hale said. Schiebel has taught him a lot of what he knows, Hale said.

To learn more about NYS Maple, visit their website.

The NYS Maple Experience Trailer, which was first displayed at the 2019 State Fair. It travels all throughout NYS and NYC to educate the public on maple products and production. NYS Maple King Kyle Hale has taken the trailer to elementary schools in the Bronx, Camden, Rome, and Buffalo. Additionally, he’s visited with the trailer at the State Fair, the NYS Maple show at the fairgrounds, and a NYS Legislator tour in Sharon Springs.

SUBMITTED PHOTOS NYS Maple King Kyle Hale educating students on maple in the NYS Maple Experience Trailer in 2019.

A variety of maple products made in NY