Maple syrup producer concerned earliest start ever could harm trees in the long run [Video]

WISCONSIN (AP) — This year’s warmer winter temperatures have allowed some maple syrup producers across the U.S. to begin tapping their trees as much as two months early.

In Wisconsin, the fourth-largest maple syrup producing state, many farmers started production in January and February, earlier than they can ever remember doing it.

Jeremy Solin, who farms a forest first tapped by his family in 1917 in Deerbrook, WI, said typically they wouldn’t be talking about tapping trees until March and that he is concerned about the long-term impact of climate shift on the health of maple trees.

As climate change leads to warmer temperatures, these unpredictable winters may become more and more common in parts of Wisconsin. But many producers are committed to the traditions that strengthen their bonds with their “sugarbushes,” making this practice more resilient than others that are threatened by the slow melting of the North American …