#Maple syrup trees type maple tree full

Using competitive rental rate per acre as the cost basis, the most important task is to accurately estimate the number of taps per acre. This quick comparison also demonstrates why maple lease rates need to start at $1.00 per tap to keep a woodlot lease competitive with other market options. This would mean that woods with 80 taps per acre renting for $1.00 per tap would be nearly equivalent to many cropland leases. An emergency escape clause that protects the rights of both parties is one way to deal with this concern, and another method to soften those objections is for the landowner to get a substantial financial return for leasing the woods.Ĭonsider the fact that an average lease on cropland now starts around $100.00 per acre (averages are higher in some areas and lower in others). All these concerns should be considered when designing a maple lease. Even if a sale is not forthcoming, many owners are cognizant of how their decisions might impact the next generation. One of the primary reasons is that the owner does not want to be bound to a binding contract if something unexpected were to happen and they had to sell the property. The financial and physical investment of installing a tubing system necessitates a long term (7 to 10 years) lease, but many landowners are hesitant about entering into this type of agreement for a variety of reasons.

Today a profitable maple operation relies heavily on technology to be successful and that includes a vacuum tubing system. Later realization of this unfortunate fact often compounds the agony of estate settlement.

#Maple syrup trees type maple tree full

Unfortunately in times of financial stress, families do not feel as though they have time to explore all their options and fail to receive the timber’s full market value as a result of a quick sale to settle financial obligations. Many times the family is forced to liquidate assets such as timber to offset these expenses, and as a result, many potentially prime sugar bushes have been cut down and lost in the process. Often the cost of ownership (e.g., property tax) or the cost of settling an estate ultimately determines what will happen to an estate. To compound the problem, much of this land is owned by “Baby Boomers” who are aging or are now ready to leave Ohio and transfer ownership to a sibling or third party. This often makes it unaffordable for someone to buy a woodlot for maple production. Northeast Ohio has experienced increased pressure from urban development and the price of that land reflects developmental value not agricultural value. Sixty percent of the maple production in Ohio is done in the northeast quadrant of the state. The majority of trees in Ohio are privately owned, and the land that is publicly-owned (either by the federal or state government) is concentrated in southeast Ohio – a region that has never been considered prime maple producing territory. Let’s look at the process of leasing trees for maple syrup production. There is also the obstacle of convincing landowners to lease their trees which can be very difficult to say the least. We have fewer trees and in smaller concentrations distributed across the state. Okay – I realize it is not that simple but it is a lot easier than what expansion looks like in most parts of Ohio. If you can swing the operating capital and lease the land, expansion is as simple as running a pipeline down the mountainside to a sugarhouse. In both areas you have mountainsides with literally thousands of maple trees, and much of this land is owned and leased by the government or large private companies. In New England and New York, there is little doubt on how and where expansion will occur.

Expansion in maple syrup states have been in high gear over the last several years.