Ohio State Maple

Ohio State Maple Syrup started as a student project in 2015.  A group of students working on a Capstone project at The Ohio State University Mansfield campus highlighted a 19 acre area of the 600 acre campus woodland for installation of a maple syrup operation. Two years later, another Capstone group conducted a site inventory and their report was shared with some Ohio maple producers who agreed the site would be perfect for a sugar bush operation. With the help of Rep. John Patterson, Richards Maple and Gortner Maple, a sugar bush with 1100 taps was installed February 2019.  The video below details the path to creating an Ohio State Maple syrup operation.

 

 

 

The first seasons run produced 18,050 gallons of sap and working with Gortner Maple to boil and bottle the syrup, Ohio State Maple retains 185 gallons of maple syrup to sell. The funds generated from the syrup sales will go back into the operation of the sugar bush, produce several EcoLab student scholarships and internships, be invested in research associated with sustainable woodland management and support maple based outreach for natural resource professionals, landowners and students.

 

In May of 2020 the OSU Capstone students (ENR 4900.02) produced an ArcGIS Storymaps presentation about the sugarbush located on the Ohio State University Mansfield campus.  The Storymaps presentation is available here.  The Capstone students looked over the information that had been collected by previous Capstone teams, looked over sugarbush management research and put together the presentation.

 

 

 

 

 

Want to connect with more Ohio maple information.  Then take a look at the Ohio State Maple blog here.  The site has updated information on the Mansfield maple site documenting the research and outreach going on at the site.  There are articles on equipment and outreach events.  Keep up to date on Ohio State Maple.

 

 
2021 Ohio Maple Days

The 2021 Ohio Maple Days was a virtual event that was also recorded.  We have split the day’s presentations up so you can watch all of them or just a select few.  Recordings are linked below. Click on the 'Part' that you want to view

Part 1 - Opening comments: Moderator, Dr. Gary Graham, Ohio State University Extension; OMPA report: Karl Evans, OMPA President; Acer Grant Reports: Gabriel Karns, Ohio State University, Mansfield Campus

Part 2 - Tapping practices to optimize yields and sustainability and increasing production with red maple: Dr. Abby van den Berg, Proctor Research Center, University of Vermont

Part 3 - Maple Syrup Regulatory Year in Review: Mr. Dan Milo. Ohio Department of Ag

Part 4 - Early tapping and tapping longevity strategies and increasing production with red maple: Dr. Abby van den Berg, Proctor Research Center, University of Vermont

Part 5Your Woodland and Invasive Species, Ms. Kathy Smith, Ohio State University