Vermont produced a record amount of maple syrup this past year, thanks to an extended season with low temperatures and more people getting into the business or expanding their operations.
Vermont is the country's largest producer of maple syrup. U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics show the state yielded 1.9 million gallons this year, up from 1.4 million gallons last year.
New York was second with 707,000 gallons, followed by Maine, Wisconsin and New Hampshire. Massachusetts maple syrup producers reported a second consecutive record-breaking year, ranking eighth among the 13 maple syrup-producing states.
Overall, the country produced 4.2 million gallons.
The primary reasons for the production increase were a long season and a relatively warm winter punctuated by deep freezes in February and March that kept the sap running.
Maple syrup retails for an average of about $48 to $52 per gallon.
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture's maple specialist says the number of taps in trees in Vermont has jumped from a million about 15 years ago to nearly 5 million now.
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