DIVERSIFYING THE NEW YORK MAPLE INDUSTRY: PRODUCING SYRUP FROM BIRCH TREES

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: MCINTIRE-STENNIS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1000623
• Project Start Date: Nov 1, 2013
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2016
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853

Performing Department
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Non Technical Summary
This project will develop information and procedures essential to producing birch syrups from the predominant birch species in New York. Birch syrup production occurs primarily in Alaska and Canada. It is a high value food product with local and export potential. Research will determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments; determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees; determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup; determine the cost of production for existing maple syrup producers to also produce birch syrup; determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining, determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production, and determine the production potential for birch trees throughout the United States.

Animal Health Component

100%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
125	0620	1070	40%
123	0620	1070	10%
502	0620	1070	50%

Knowledge Area
125 - Agroforestry; 123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources; 502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
0620 - Broadleaf forests of the North;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

forest food products- birch syrup

maple syrup

syrup production

Goals / Objectives
Determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments. Determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees. Determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup, which may range between 60 or 66 brix. Determine the cost of production for existing maple syrup producers to also produce birch syrup Determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining with 5/16" and 7/16" diameter spouts. Determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production. Determine the production potential for birch trees throughout the United States.

Project Methods
Determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments. AND Determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees. We will set taps in at least 600 birch trees and measure overall sap yield and corresponding syrup production at two locations- the Uihlein Forest in Lake Placid, NY and Arnot Forest in Van Etten, NY. This will be carried out for 3 years to account for annual differences in weather. Figure 1 displays the tapping and collection plans for each location. Arnot Forest Uihlein Forest four replications of 5 black birch trees connected to a 20-gallon PVC canister under vacuum between 200-300 paper and yellow birch trees collected with gravity tubing four replications of 5 yellow birch trees connected to a 20-gallon PVC canister under vacuum between 200-300 paper and yellow birch trees collected with vacuum tubing 20 black birch trees collected with plastic bags 20 yellow birch trees collected with plastic bags 20 yellow birch trees collected with plastic bags 20 paper birch trees collected with plastic bags The trials at Arnot Forest will include four replications of tapping 5 black birch and yellow birch trees with vacuum tubing. PVC canisters that have been used for gathering maple sap under vacuum will be employed on the birch trees (Childs 2012 pers. comm.). At Uihlein Forest we will utilize our a tubing system to collect sap from approximately 500 yellow birch and paper birch trees. There are two main sections that each include between 200 and 300 trees- we will alternate having the vacuum on in each section for 2014 and 2015 in order to determine the effect of vacuum tubing on total sap yields. For instance, in 2014 the A section will receive vacuum and the B section will flow in by gravity, whereas in 2015 the B section will have vacuum and the A section will just use gravity. At both locations to assess production in systems without vacuum, 3-gallon plastic bags will be hung on each tree and first transferred into a graduated cylinder to measure the volume and sugar content each day that they are emptied. Total sap yields and sugar content will be measured and analyzed at the end of each season. In addition to our replicated trials at the Uihlein and Arnot Forests, there will be multiple locations throughout New York where different species of birch will be tapped for syrup production, including the southern Adirondacks and Hudson Valley regions. We will request and keep detailed records from all collaborators on timing of tapping and overall vacuum sap yield, sap sugar concentration, and syrup production for 3 years. Gathering these data will provide 'real-world' context to our controlled experiments and provide a greater understanding of the extent and scope of birch syrup production in New York. Determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup, which may range between 60 to 66 brix. To determine the optimum density for birch syrup, we will process three batches of syrup from the same sap source at 60, 63, and 66 brix. We will evaluate them over a 12 month time for consumer preference and storage, noting whether brix content has an effect on shelf life and product stability in refrigerated and ambient conditions. Individual bottles will be opened every month and tested for bacteria, yeast, mold, and pH. This research will take place at Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva under the direction of Dr. Randy Worobo. Determine the cost of production for existing sugarmakers to produce birch syrup Using data gathered from the Uihlein Forest, Arnot Forest, and cooperating producers, we will determine the cost of production for maple producers to include birch syrup production in their overall sugaring operations. The cost of production model will be based on the methods used in the 2nd edition of the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual (Heiligmann et al. 2006). The formulation will include the fixed and variable costs for adding birch syrup production to an existing maple operation. As part of this project, a user-friendly spreadsheet will be developed so that maple producers can keep track of the additional costs associated with adding birch syrup to their operations. Determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining with 5/16" and 7/16" diameter spouts. Five yellow birch and five paper birch trees will be tapped with a 5/16 and 7/16 spout each year on a different face of the tree. In 2016 we will harvest these trees to examine the impact of tapping with 5/16 and 7/16" spouts. The birch trees will be sawn into boards at The Uihlein Forest in Lake Placid, NY with a portable bandmill. The total volume of stained wood will be assessed for each size taphole. The total volume of staining for 5/16" tapholes will then be compared to the staining associated with 7/16" taphole. Both of these values will be compared to staining typically found in sugar maple trees (Wilmot et al. 2007) Determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production Michael Farrell developed a Net Present Value calculator in which a user can enter values for 36 variables specific to an individual tree to determine if one could earn greater revenues over time by managing the tree for syrup or sawtimber production (Farrell 2012a). This NPV Calculator will be modified for use with yellow birch, paper birch, and black birch trees. Once the model has been created, several scenarios will be evaluated to determine the economics of utilizing different species of birch in relation to timber harvesting. Determine the tapping potential for birch trees throughout the United States. We will determine the number of potentially tappable trees for paper birch, yellow birch, and black birch following the protocol established for the maple industry (Farrell & Chabot 2012). This procedure utilizes US Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) data, which is the most comprehensive dataset on private and government owned forestland in the U.S. Michael Farrell has significant experience working with these data and will provide the same type of analyses that have been done for maple with birch (Farrell 2012b). The total number of potential taps will be calculated by summing all live trees greater than 10" dbh and allowing for 1 tap on trees 10-17" dbh and 2 taps on trees 18" and larger.

Progress 11/01/13 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Our original target audience is maple syrup producers and forest landowners in New York State and the surrounding states and provinces. We have expanded our reach to include all birch sap and syrup producers in North America and Europe. Changes/Problems:We originally had planned on doing a shelf life study to determine the brix level necessary to keep birch syrup shelf-stable. We have discovered previous research entitled Advancement of the Birch Syrup and Sap Industry in British Columbia and Canada by Rebecca Robertson in 2010. This report highlighted some of their work documenting shelf life of birch syrup at different brix levels, which suggested that because the pH of birch syrup is below 4.7, it can be stored without spoiling at brix levels even under 60 brix. Thus, our original research to determine the shelf life at 60, 63, and 66 brix seemed unnecessary. Furthermore, we have also discovered that the hydrometers and refractometers used in the maple industry to measure brix are calibrated for sucrose. Since birch sap and syrup contains mostly glucose and fructose with very little sucrose, it does not make sense to conduct shelf life studies before we have an accurate method to quantify the sugar concentration of birch syrup. Instead we will conduct taste tests with chefs and consumers to determine their preferences for syrups taken to different densities. Another change we made was to organize the first ever International Birch Sap & Syrup Conference. We realized that the limited number of people currently producing birch sap and syrup have no means of communication and would benefit greatly from meeting each other and sharing information. Thus, Michael Farrell devoted a lot of time in 2015 to organizing and hosting what will hopefully be the first of many more of these conferences What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We organized a conference to bring all of the major producers of birch sap and syrup together in June 2015 at Paul Smiths College. This was the first educational event of its kind and provided an excellent opportunity for training and professional development for all 70+ attendees. The conference evaluations were extremely positive and one of the outcomes is that many people decided to form a group to facilitate further discussion and interaction among producers. We have secured a website www.internationalbirchalliance.org and are building the platform for information sharing- limited development has taken place to date, more is forthcoming. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have written several articles for the Maple Digest, Maple News, and Small Farms Quarterly. Michael Farrell has also presented on this topic at many conferences over the 3 year project (reaching over 1,000 participants),hosted a webinar with over 100 participants in December 2015 and has been viewed over 300 times since then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8codHHxJ0Ik What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments. We have collected data at six locations with different species of birch for the past three years. We have not seen significant differences between species and the average yields seem to be about .1 of a gallon of syrup per tap annually. However, the 2016 season showed significantly less flow than the previous two seasons, as the extremely dry conditions in spring 2016 resulted in substantially less sap flow. 2. Determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees. We have utilized vacuum tubing and gravity flow bags/buckets. So far it appears that vacuum tubing has very little to no benefit on the amount of sap collected over traditional spout and bucket systems. 3. Determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup, which may range between 60 or 66 brix. We have not pursued this aspect of the project (explanation in next section) 4. Determine the cost of production for existing maple syrup producers to also produce birch syrup. The University of Vermont started conducting birch sap and syrup research at the same time and they developed a profitability calculator as one of their first projects, so it no longer made sense for us to also develop this (though wedid provide input to UVM after I learned they were working on this) https://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/?Page=birch.html 5. Determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining with 5/16" and 7/16" diameter spouts. Again, this is another important component that UVM is also working on, so we decided to abandon this aspect of our project since there was no need for replication on this topic. 6. Determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production. We have analyzedrelevant financialdata on birch trees. This has been presented to the NY & New England Society of American Foresters in 2016. 7. Determine the production potential for birch trees throughout the United States. We have conducted the initial analyses on all birch trees in the US (excluding inland Alaska where FIA data does not exist).

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2017 Citation: will appear in the February 2017 version of the Maple Digest- contains highlights of all research conducted on birch sap and syrup through this project

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Our original target audience is maple syrup producers and forest landowners in New York State and the surrounding states and provinces. We have expanded our reach to include all birch sap and syrup producers in North America and Europe. Changes/Problems:We originally had planned on doing a shelf life study to determine the brix level necessary to keep birch syrup shelf-stable. We have discovered previous research entitled Advancement of the Birch Syrup and Sap Industry in British Columbia and Canada by Rebecca Robertson in 2010. This report highlighted some of their work documenting shelf life of birch syrup at different brix levels, which suggested that because the pH of birch syrup is below 4.7, it can be stored without spoiling at brix levels even under 60 brix. Thus, our original research to determine the shelf life at 60, 63,and 66 brix seemed irrelevant. Furthermore, we have also discovered that the hydrometers and refractometers used in the maple industry to measure brix are calibrated for sucrose. Since birch sap and syrup contains mostly glucose and fructose with very little sucrose, it does not make sense to conduct shelf life studies before we have an accurate method to quantify the sugar concentration of birch syrup. Instead we will conduct taste tests with chefs and consumers to determine their preferences for syrups taken to different densities. Another change we made was to organize the first ever International Birch Sap & Syrup Conference. We realized that the limited number of people currently producing birch sap and syrup have no means of communication and would benefit greatly from meeting each other and sharing information. Thus, Michael Farrell devoted a lot of time in 2015 to organizing and hosting what will hopefully be the first of many more of these conferences. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We organized a conference to bring all of the major producers of birch sap and syrup together in June 2015 at Paul Smiths College. This was the first of its kind and provided an excellent opportunity for training and professional development for all 70+ attendees. The conference evaluations were extremely positive and one of the outcomes is that many people decided to form a group to facilitate further discussion and interaction among producers. We have secured a website www.internationalbirchalliance.org and are working towards building the platform for information sharing. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have written several articles for the Maple Digest, Maple News, and Small Farms Quarterly. Michael Farrell has also presented on this topic at many conferences and hosted a webinar with over 100 participants in December 2015. Here is a listing of presentations during 2015 related to this project- some of the presentations were focused primarily on the project, whereas others included a portion to devoted to birch sap and syrup production. Date Event Sponsoring Organization Title Location Invited or Contributed # of People Hours 10-Jan NYS Maple Conference Vernon-Verona-Sherrill HS FFA Producing Syrup From Birch, and Walnut Trees Verona, NY Contributed 50 1 17-Jan Vermont Winter Maple School Addison County Sugarmakers Association Producing Syrup From Birch, and Walnut Trees Middlebury, VT Invited 50 1 31-Jan Northern NY Maple Expo St Lawrence Maple Producers Association Producing Syrup from Birch and Walnut Trees Gouverneur, NY Invited 30 1 25-Apr Lapierre USA Open House Lapierre USA Research Update from Cornell Maple Program Swanton, VT Invited 45 1 1-May Bascom Open House Bascoms Maple Farm Developing a Productive, Enjoyable, and Sustainable Sugaring Operation Alstead, NH Invited 100 1.5 13-Jun 1st International Birch Sap & Syrup Conference Cornell University/Paul Smiths College Growth potential of birch syrup industry in North America Paul Smiths VIC Invited 70 1 10-Jul Ontario Summer Maple Tour Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association How to Make Money at Sugaring Kitchener, Ontario Invited 140 1 18-Jul New Hampshire Maple Producers Annual Summer Meeting NH Maple Producers Association How to Make Money at Sugaring Temple, NH Invited 75 1 25-Jul Cornell Maple Camp Cornell Maple Program 25 ways to develop a more profitable sugaring operation Arnot Forest, Van Etten, NY Contributed 27 2 28-Aug Business of Maple Conference Commercial Maple Syrup Producers of Michigan How to Make Money at Sugaring Gaylord, MI Invited 80 1 3-Oct Homesteading Festival Adirondack Center for Working Landscapes Birch and walnut syrup production Paul Smiths, NY Invited 20 1 21-Oct NAMSC/Annual Meeting NAMSC/IMSI Overview of the sap beevrage market Seven Springs, PA Invited 150 0.3 22-Oct NAMSC/Annual Meeting NAMSC/IMSI Research Update from Cornell Maple Program Seven Springs, PA Invited 80 0.5 22-Oct NAMSC/Annual Meeting NAMSC/IMSI Tapping birch and walnut trees for sap and syrup production Seven Springs, PA Invited 50 0.75 7-Nov Lake Erie Maple Expo PA Maple Producers Association Overview of the sap beverage market Albion, PA Invited 30 1 7-Nov Lake Erie Maple Expo PA Maple Producers Association How to Make Money at Sugaring Albion, PA Invited 40 1 21-Nov International Maple Symposium Federation of Maple Syrup Producers of Quebec Potential for Plant Waters Quebec City, Canada Invited 150 0.75 16-Dec ForestConnect Webinar Series Cornell DNR More than Maple: Tapping Birch and Walnut for Sap and Syrup Production webinar Invited 110 2.5 What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Over the next year, we will continue to focus our work on the following goals Determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments. ONGOING Determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees. ONGOING Determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup, which may range between 60 or 66 brix. MODIFIED- we will conduct taste test with consumers and chefs to determine their preferences for syrups at different brix levels. Determine the cost of production for existing maple syrup producers to also produce birch syrup- MODIFIED, we will utilize the calculator developed by UVM in order to determine the cost of birch syrup production for several operations already doing maple syrup production Determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining with 5/16" and 7/16" diameter spouts. CANCELED- to avoid repetition with ongoing work on this topic at UVM Determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production. ONGOING- will include in presentations and publish a paper on the topic Determine the production potential for birch trees throughout the United States ONGOING- will include more precision to initial estimates to account for density and accessibility, will publish paper on the topic

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? 1. Determine the yields for sap and syrup production from different species of birch (yellow birch, paper birch, black birch) under different forest conditions and environments. We have collected data at six locations with different species of birch for the past two years. We will collect one more season's worth of data under this project and then report on the average yields when the project is complete. As of now we have not seen significant differences between species and the average yields seem to be about .1 of a gallon of syrup per tap annually. 2. Determine the effectiveness of using vacuum tubing to collect sap from birch trees. We have utilized vacuum tubing and gravity flow bags/buckets. So far it appears that vacuum tubing has very little to no benefit on the amount of sap collected over traditional spout and bucket systems. 3. Determine the optimum sugar concentration of finished birch syrup, which may range between 60 or 66 brix. We have not pursued this aspect of the project (explanation in next section) 4. Determine the cost of production for existing maple syrup producers to also produce birch syrup The University of Vermont started conducting birch sap and syrup research at the same time and they developed a profitability calculator as one of their first projects, so it no longer made sense for us to also develop this (though I did provide input to UVM after I learned they were working on this) https://www.uvm.edu/~pmrc/?Page=birch.html 5. Determine the impact of tapping birch trees on internal staining with 5/16" and 7/16" diameter spouts. Again, this is another important component that UVM is also working on, so we decided to abandon this aspect of our project since there was no need for replication on this topic. 6. Determine if landowners could earn greater revenues from utilizing their birch trees for syrup or sawtimber production. We have analyzed numbers for birch utilizing relevant data on birch trees and will be publishing an article on our findings in 2016. 7. Determine the production potential for birch trees throughout the United States. We have conducted the initial analyses on all birch trees in the US and will be refining these figures in 2016 to incorporate stand density and accessibility to come up with a more refined estimate of the tapping potential in the US.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Farrell, M. 2015. Weighing the Pros and Cons of Producing Birch Syrup. Small Farms Quarterly. Spring 2015.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Farrell, M. 2015. Birch Conference Plans Well Underway at Paul Smiths College. The Maple News. May 2015.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Farrell, M. 2015. First International Birch Conference a Success. The Maple News. September 2015.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Farrell, M. 2016. Research Update on Birch Sap and Syrup. The Maple News. January 2016.
• Type: Other Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Farrell, M. 2016. Research Update on Birch Sap and Syrup. The Maple Digest. February 2016.

Progress 11/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Our target audience is maple syrup producers and forest landowners in New York State and the surrounding states and provinces. Changes/Problems: We are eliminating goal 4 since other researchers at the University of Vermont have addressed this in their own project. We did not know anyone else was going to be doing this, and now that it is done, there is no need to replicate this work. We have also decided to organize the first ever International Birch Sap & Syrup Conference at Paul Smith's College in the Adirondacks June 12-14, 2015. Michael Farrell is spearheading these efforts and the conference will be bringing together between 100-200 birch syrup producers, researchers, extension agents, forest landowners, and existing maple syrup producers who want to learn more about birch syrup. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Michael Farrell has given presentations on birch sap and syrup production to 18 different maple producer and forest landowner audiences in 2014 as well as the annual conventions of the Society of American Foresters and the North American Maple Syrup Council. He also discussed birch sap and syrup production on 19 regional and national radio shows during interviews on his recently published book The Sugarmakers Companion: An integrated approach to producing syrup from maple, birch, and walnut trees. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will be continuing to collect data to address goals 1 and 2 and will begin the work to accomplish goals 3, 5, and 6.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? In the first year we have started to collect data for goals 1 and 2 and have accomplished goal 7. This work has been described thoroughly in a paper entitled "Assessing the development potential of the birch syrup industry in the United States" thatis currently under review at the Journal of Sustainable Forestry. I have pasted in the abstract below. Birch syrup production in North America is a small, underdeveloped industry with significant opportunity for expansion. This paper utilizes data from the US Forest Service Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA) Program to estimate the total number of tappable birch trees in 21 states. With 32 million potential taps, Minnesota contains the greatest paper birch (Betula papyrifera) resource. Maine leads in yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) with 48 million potential taps whereas Pennsylvania's has the largest black birch (Betula lenta) resource with 44 million potential taps. Opportunities and challenges for further development of the birch sap and syrup industry are discussed.

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Farrell, M. 2014 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Producing Birch Syrup. The Maple News. March 2014.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2015 Citation: I am currently working on a paper entitled "Assessing the development potential of the birch syrup industry in the United States". It has been submitted to he Journal of Sustainable Forestry- it will go back to them shortly for further review after I finish working on the revisions suggested by the editor there.