The sun has some melting power and 2019 Sap buy prices

I was outside most of the day today and these are the kind of sunny days we need to knock down that snow pack.  The temperatures are beginning to look promising once we get past this storm tomorrow.

SAP PRICES:  People have asked what sap prices will be this year and how do you calculate them.  The price is determined by the “bulk buy” price of syrup which today is about $2.00 per pound.  A gallon of syrup weighs 11 pounds.  Using the rule of 86(86/sap sugar content) for computing how many gallons of sap does it take to make a gallon of syrup and using a sap sugar content of 2%, It would take 43 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup if the sap was 2%.  So…  if bulk syrup price is $ 11.00 per pound, then the sap value(2% sugar) is obtained  by: $11/43   which is equal to 25.5 cents per gallon of sap.  Most all buyers will pay by the “point” so they will pay you between 12 t0 13 cents per point(1%) of sugar.

Last year I paid 16 cents per point which was high even for last year.  This year I pay between  of 13 to 14 cents per point.

I hope this helps

Don