New Exhibits Planned for Maple at New York State Fair

Buckets hang from maple trees collecting sap.

The New York State Maple Producers Association will have a new exhibit at the New York State Fair this summer.

Association Executive Director Helen Thomas said the exhibit, in the Horticulture Building, will feature a working tubing system with water (representing sap) so people can see how the sap moves from the tree into a collection releaser. The releaser will periodically fill and dump, creating a noise and splash.

The association also is designing a cutaway of a tree to show how the sap flows up and down in the maple tree as the temperature changes.

“These two features will highlight a brand new interactive display that will make folks feel like they are standing in the maple woods,” Thomas continued. “This display will also provide fairgoers with free samples of maple syrup. We hope that these new features will entice people to stop at the maple center where we make all sorts of confections on the premises, and where they can meet and talk with the hard working maple producers of the Great State of New York.”

New York state ranks second nationwide in maple syrup production (Vermont is number 1) and accounts for 18 percent of the nation’s output with 574,000 gallons produced in 2013.  

“This year, we want fairgoers to encounter the mystery of maple’s sweet sap,” Thomas said. “How does the maple tree share its tasty sweetness?  How do they get all that sap out of the woods and over to the sugarhouse?  How does the sap become the great sweetener we know as maple syrup?  You can experience these mysteries first hand by stopping by the new maple display in the Horticulture Building at the New York State Fair beginning Aug. 21.”

 “Maple syrup is such a hugely important agricultural industry here in the state,” said state Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball.  “The primary focus of the Great New York State Fair is to educate fairgoers about the breadth of New York agriculture and we are pleased that the New York State Maple Producers Association will be ramping up their educational efforts at this year’s fair.”    

For more information about New York’s huge maple industry, please visit www.nysmaple.com.