A team of Stockton University faculty were awarded a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture last September to promote red maple sugaring in South Jersey. This month they have finally begun a mid-scale operation at Stockton’s campus in Galloway Township.
“I’m a mathematician. We have an economist, an environmental scientist, a soil scientist and a forester,” said Judith A. Vogel, a professor of mathematics at the university. “We all got together with our love of maple syrup.”
The group is focused on promoting awareness of red maples across South Jersey and how tapping could affect the ecology and wildlife. The grant will also allow faculty and students to teach communities how to use these trees for maple syrup production.
“Our main concern is to help conserve New Jersey forests,” said Aaron Stoler, an assistant professor of environmental science and the project’s lead investigator. “The Pine Barrens is immense and we want to conserve it at all costs. A lot of folks have forests that are either in or out of the Pine Barrens that they want to conserve.
"South Jersey is a beautiful place and we are trying to conserve its forests as much as possible.”
Tapping maple trees is not a very large operation in South Jersey because of the area’s freeze-thaw periods. Without a decent period of freezing nights and warm days, syrup production is difficult, but this group of scientists is setting out to find the best conditions in Southern New Jersey for red maple syrup production.
“People don’t realize that maples are thriving down here,” said Stoler. “Pine trees are certainly the most dominant but in any wet area you are going to find maple trees. We haven’t really ever thought about getting syrup out of those trees before because they are not sugar maple trees … If you don’t have sugar maple and all you have is red maple, why not tap it. Why not use that resource?”
Sugar maple trees are found in northern states from Vermont up through Maine and into Canada. These trees are the usual choice for maple production due to their 2% to 4% sugar content, because syrup is 70% sugar it is easier to start with a sap with a higher sugar content. South Jersey holds a better climate for the growing of red maple trees which hold a sugar content of 1%-2%.
The Stockton scientists believe with new technology they can harvest red maple sap more efficiently in order to create a small business opportunity for farmers and families.
“If you’re trying to draw a reasonable quantity of syrup from the trees you can use vacuum technology to create a small vacuum that will pull a little more sap from the tree. You can get larger evaporators that can help you boil off more,” said Stoler. “You can also use technology called reverse osmosis.”
Reverse osmosis is usually used to filter impurities out of water for household uses, such as water filters on a sink tap. But this group is using it to filter out the water from red maple sap in order to leave the syrup behind.
According to Vogel, this would save an extensive amount of energy that it would normally take to filter lower sugar content.
In order to research the possible syrup production of red maple trees in South Jersey, this group of scientists is looking to the community for around 100 participants to help.
“We are looking for maple trees that are at least 12 inches diameter or more, and people who are interested in tapping trees,” said Stoler. “We are looking for individuals that would tap their trees for two to three years. We will give them the equipment. We are happy to give them buckets and taps and they collect the sap. They will make the syrup and we will show them how.”
According to Stoler, all they are asking in return is the ability to take measurements of soil chemistry, wildlife, and plants around the area. They will use these measurements to determine the best type of land for red maple growth and tapping and spread the word to the communities.
“Part of this research is trying to determine where the freeze-thaw actually works. Then you can get syrup, you can get a years worth of sap for your family,” said Vogel. “Land owners could put up a stand with maple syrup or a campground could sell it in their general store. We are not looking to replace the industry level, we are looking to see if it is a project that families can do, small farm can do.”
“My family has been producing maple syrup for about five years now using red maple and some sugar maple. It’s possible to get syrup from New Jersey trees. It’s just about investigating whether or not you can get enough to make it profitable,” said Vogel.
Mackenzie Fitchett can be reached at mfitchett@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us.nj.com/tips Get the latest updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.
Love South Jersey? Join our new Facebook group for exclusive content and a look at the news from the South Jersey side.