CHEHALIS, Wash. — Helping forest-owning hobbyists and entrepreneurs tap an emerging market, Washington State University Extension foresters will support bigleaf maple syrup production in western Washington with funding from the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA).
“We’re helping create a unique Pacific Northwest maple syrup,” said WSU Extension Forester Patrick Shults. “Those who taste it know it has a distinctive flavor and is primed for new applications. That’s why it commands such a high value right now.”
Funded by a WSDA Specialty Crop Block Grant, Shults and fellow WSU Extension foresters are leading the project in partnership with the WSU Food Systems Program and Agroforestry Northwest. The work builds on a previous collaboration between WSU Extension, the University of Washington, and Oregon State University.
Shults said he looks forward to helping create a bigleaf maple sugaring school for aspiring commercial producers as well as an online bigleaf maple sugaring toolkit. Additional WSU Extension support will benefit local manufacturers who produce maple sugaring equipment.
“Bigleaf maple sugaring presents an opportunity for farm and forest owners to diversify their income and how they use their land,” Shults said. “Traditionally marginal lands or lands in riparian buffer zones that can’t be cultivated for timber can be used to produce maple syrup.”
Maple sugaring also creates an incentive to maintain bigleaf maple trees, a low-value timber species with high environmental impact.
“Ecologically speaking, maples are extremely valuable,” said Shults. “They provide wildlife habitat and are great for soil health and carbon storage.”
The bigleaf maple’s fast growth rate and ability to sustain multiple stems mean it’s an ideal species for tapping. Those same attributes make the bigleaf maple a nuisance for timber growers.
Like all maples, bigleaf produces sap as a response to freeze-thaw cycles. The sap from bigleaf maples has a lower sugar content compared to sugar maples in the eastern U.S., which means more sap is required to make the same amount of syrup. Yet advances in sugaring technology have increased the species’ viability for Pacific Northwest syrup makers.
“Producers of bigleaf maple syrup in Washington sell out very quickly,” said Shults. “There is simply not enough supply in the state to meet demand.”
The majority of bigleaf maple syrup is sold direct-to-consumers online or at venues like farmers markets. Washington restaurants and bars also routinely purchase the syrup and incorporate it into their menu offerings.
Shults sees more market opportunities for the food and beverage industry as additional products are developed and breweries and distilleries experiment with new flavors. He has also seen firsthand other unintended benefits for those involved in syrup production.
“Aside from the market aspects of bigleaf maple sugaring, every hobbyist I know enjoys doing this,” said Shults. “They love being outdoors in the forest in wintertime and learning to tap and process bigleaf maple sap into syrup.”
Further information
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Media contact
Patrick Shults; WSU Extension Forester, southwest Washington; email: patrick.shults@wsu.edu; voicemail: 360-553-1116