Warmer world puts squeeze on U.S. maple syrup

By Scott Malone

LUDLOW, Vermont (Reuters) - In the seasonal rhythm of New England, March marks the start of sugar season, when farmers tap thawing maple trees for their sap. But some worry that a warming climate is endangering their future.

Long skeptical of claims that the planet is warming as a result of human activity -- the release of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels -- syrup-maker Doug Rose said he's started to wonder.

"I've always been, 'Oh, global warming, I don't know about that.' But now I do think we need to start thinking about it, because we are seeing changes," Rose said in an interview at Green Mountain Sugar House in Ludlow, a rustic Vermont town settled in 1761.

"We're seeing production go down, we really are."

His concerns, shared by several syrup-makers around the state, were piqued by a study by the Proctor Maple Research Center at the University of Vermont, which showed that the month-long season has gotten about three days shorter over the past four decades.

"What we're seeing is about a 10 percent reduction in the season," said Timothy Perkins, the center's director.

If that trend continues, it could mean that one day sugaring -- the process of boiling the sap down to sweet, aromatic, amber maple syrup -- would no longer be economically feasible in the region.

Perkins is currently working on a study on how climate change could change maple production in the region over the next half-century.