Interview: Jake Moser says early starts to Maple season are "nothing uncommon"

LEWIS COUNTY- Maple season here in the North Country is off to an early start this-year.

That's according to Jake Moser. He serves as the Lewis County Clerk, but also runs his own sugar shack outside of Croghan, NY.

According to Moser, he and other maple producers locally have already tapped, gathered and boiled sap into syrup this month. "That's nothing uncommon," he told us.

"Most seasons that's what happens - a lot of times you will get an early start and then you will do a one or two-week freeze-up. Then the main part of the season will come."

Moser says the early start can be directly attributed to daytime temperatures being in the 40's and overnight lows in the 20's the last few weeks. "It doesn't matter if it's January or February," he explained. "That's the weather pattern we are looking for."

He adds rain and overcast skies make a tremendous difference in maple production. Listen to our latest on-air coverage for more of Moser's insight regarding maple:

For its 27th-year, New York's Maple Weekend is aimed this season for March 18-19 and 25-26. It's an opportunity for folks to visit all sorts of sugar shacks locally and all over the state. 

Moser says things should be on track, as long as there are no dramatic warm-ups into the 60's or 70's anytime soon.

Stay tuned, we'll be sharing more segments for Maple Weekend coming up soon.

Image via Moser's Maple.