Hundreds get a glimpse of area's maple producing industry

From the same land that was settled by one of Potter County's pioneer families in the early 1800s, Bryan Ianson collects thousands of gallons of sap and boils it down for wholesale and retail sales. He recently indoctrinated his grandson as a seventh-generation Ianson to pitch in at the sugarbush. During the season's peak, Brydonson Farm can produce about 60 gallons of syrup per day. Few producers still use the traditional tap and bucket system. Most long ago converted to a tap and hose collection system.

A dozen area maple syrup producers opened their doors Saturday and Sunday for the "Maple Weekend Tours." Springlike weather created a record turnout at the third annual tours.

Among the more impressive sugarbushes on display was former cable television executive John Rigas's Wending Creek Farms, north of Coudersport, where 7,000 maples are tapped.

Charles and Laura Nelson welcomed all comers at their maple farm on Grove Hollow Road, near Genesee. The Nelsons' product was honored as "Best of Show" at this year's State Farm Show.

Perhaps the biggest turnout was at Brydonson Farm, on Ayers Hill Road between Coudersport and Austin, where former Coudersport Postmaster Bryan Ianson and his family were busy hosting guests and tending to a roaring wood fire fueling his evaporator.

"Five percent," Ianson said in response to a question about the proportion of Potter County maple trees tapped for sap. "I think we're really missing the boat here as far as developing an industry."

Even a tapped tree only yields about 10 percent of its sap to a tap; the remainder seeps into the soil.

Warmer days and cold nights of late last week created ideal conditions for syruping, so tour participants were able to witness the production at its peak at six sugarbushes in Potter County and an equal number in Tioga.

Most of the operators have been making syrup for a decade or longer and deftly fielded questions about the production of syrup, maple sugar and several other products.

The Potter/Tioga Maple Producer Assn., formed in 1963, sponsored Maple Tours Weekend. Many of the same syrup producers will also be participating in Coudersport's 41st annual Maple Festival scheduled for May 4-5.