This weekend I couldn’t feel my face as I skied down the fresh, powdery slopes. Seven days earlier, I was rummaging through packed away summer wear in pursuit of a sundress for the 78º day.

This fickle weather is causing concern for crops in the Northeast and Midwest regions of America.

There are confused cherry blossoms in Washington, peaches popping up in Kentucky and blueberries growing way-too-early in Michigan.

While you might be loving the early sandal season, most crops can’t appreciate the weird weather the way you do.

One of those crops is maple syrup. Some farmers believe there will be up to a 75 percent decrease in production this year because of the unseasonably warm start. The reduced sap flow could be devastating to farmers relying on the crop as income.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal wrote a thorough report on the state of the maple syrup harvest. The farmers expressed their concerns to the WSJ about what climate change may mean for their industry.

In Pennsylvania, the sap started flowing a month early this year, which doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but if temperatures stay above freezing from here on out, problems could arise.

The President of the Pennsylvania Maple Syrup Producers Council told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that there is already “a lot of concern among producers statewide,” and if temperatures stay above freezing, maple-sap collection could end “earlier than it ever has.”

This means a shortage of syrup for your pancakes, cleanses and maple dishes you probably haven’t even considered yet.

Maple syrup taps on trees. Image credit: Pixabay

Comments

comments

Author

Meghan is a full-time writer exploring the fun facts behind food. She lives a healthy lifestyle but lives for breakfast, dessert and anything with marinara. She’s thrown away just as many meals as she’s proud of.