Massachusetts

Will 2024 be a good maple syrup season in Massachusetts?

Published

2 years ago

February 25, 2024

Will 2024 be a good maple syrup season in Massachusetts?

Though March is officially considered Massachusetts Maple Month, many sugar makers have already kicked-off the 2024 season, tapping maple trees for syrup as early as mid-January with no clear end to the season in sight.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good year,” said Massachusetts Maple Producers Association coordinator Missy Leab, of Ioka Valley Farm in Hancock.

“And just because we started boiling in January does not mean we are going to end any sooner than any other typical year,” said Leab.

Read more: 10 interesting facts about maple syrup that you need to know

Leab said she usually taps from late January until late March or early April, though she knows of other sugar makers tapping trees as early as Jan. 13.

“Quite a few people across the state have been able to get taps out and caught that last FOS,” referring to the sweet, carbohydrate compound found in syrup, also known as fructooligosaccharides. ”It was a wonderful, generous run for most people.”

MMPA Board of Director Richard Julian, of Deer Meadow Farm in Warren, said making syrup is “weather-dependent,” and sugar makers tap trees, boil sap and make syrup whenever they can.

The sugar shack at Deer Meadow Farm in Warren is where sap is boiled down into maple syrup. The farm is hosting a sugar shack tour on Maple Weekend, March 16-17, 2024.Courtesy of Deer Meadow Farm, Warren Ma

“For sap to run, it needs to be below freezing at night to build up pressure,” said Julian. “A sugar maker’s dream is 20 degrees at night and 45 degrees during the day.”

He said there is no way to be 100% sure of what the season will look like, but plans on at least six weeks of sugar making.

Julian said he starts tapping trees around Valentine’s Day and started boiling right on schedule this year, with his first boil on Feb. 11.

Read more: Crumbl’s new menu this week doesn’t just have cookies, it has also has cake

“I made 82 gallons (of syrup) last year, and 85 the year before,” said Julian. “We always hope for a good season.”

It takes about 43 gallons of “raw” sap to boil down into 1 gallon of maple syrup, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

“In the old days, people would tap in March and April,” said Julian, adding that people are now tapping around February or earlier.

In an article published last year by the USDA, Jason Lilley, Assistant professor of sustainable agriculture and maple industry educator for the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, said the earlier sugaring season may be related to climate change.

Read more: Breakfast sandwich at Rutland café selling out on weekends

He said if this phenomenon was happening in a single season, he would have considered it an abnormality.

“However, this has been a widely recognized trend among the maple industry over several seasons,” said Lilley.

And 2024 is no exception.

High Hopes Farm Sugarhouse owner and sugar maker, Brian Rowe, of Worthington, said “times have changed,” and his sugarhouse is one that will extend its season this year, thanks to the early start.

“We started tapping about two and a half weeks ago,” said Rowe, who is on his 33rd year tapping trees in Massachusetts.

High Hopes Sugarhouse, at 113 Huntington Road in Worthington, will be open for the season and pancake breakfasts starting Saturday, Feb. 24, from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m., and will end the season on April 7.

MMPA Board of Director Bruce Hopper, of Pure BS Maple Shack in Auburn, said he started right on schedule this season, though believes he could have started earlier.

“I know some people who have bottled and tapped already,” said Hopper. “In my experience, I’ve learned ‘don’t go too hog-wild too early’.”

Read more: All 13 Girl Scout Cookie flavors, ranked worst to best

He said starting early can sometimes make the “liquid gold” crop more vulnerable to weather conditions such as wind or freezing temperatures – affecting the flow of the sap.

“When the wind is blowing, it’s too much,” he said.

University of New Hampshire professor of natural resources and environmental researcher Heidi Asbjornsen told the USDA, “in the Northeast, late winter and spring are the times of year that are experiencing the most dramatic climate change.”

And, “perhaps no surprise that tapping patterns are changing.”

As far as predicting how the crop yield will be this season, Hopper said “it’s a lot of just watching the weather. There isn’t any set day or time.”

Leab, who has nearly 30 years of sugar-making experience, said once the maples start producing buds, the syrup-making season is at its end.

“The flavor changes dramatically at that point also. So again, that’s Mother Nature’s control of when we start and when we finish,” said Leab.

With Massachusetts Maple Month in March, sugar makers are gearing up for a state-wide maple celebration known as Maple Weekend.

On Saturday, March 16, and Sunday, March 17, sugar makers will participate in maple festivities with tours of their sugarhouses, showcasing their maple goods and offering hot samples of syrup.

Leab and the Ioka Valley Farm team at 3475 Hancock Road in Hancock, will celebrate by serving pancakes, waffles and French toast, offering sugarhouse tours and – of course – maple syrup tasting.

Read more: Pure BS Maple Shack taps into cannabis industry with infused syrup by Cultivate

“It’s a great time of year,” said Leab. “It’s a wonderful transition from the late winter through the early spring. I can’t think of any other way to celebrate mud season except for making maple syrup.”

Julian said Deer Meadow Farm, located at 60 Reed St. in Warren, will celebrate with a tour of the sugarhouse, tour(s) of the woods to showcase sugar bushes, and offer warm maple syrup samples.

Deer Meadow Farm will be open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, and 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 17.

High Hopes Sugarhouse of Worthington will offer the usual, seasonal all-you-can-eat pancake and breakfast buffet on Maple Weekend, in addition to a tour of the sugar shack and Q&A sessions.

“Everything is made in the same building,” said Rowe, “we can show the production on how it’s made.”

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Massachusetts

‘That comes with a price tag’: How snow removal is busting town budgets – The Boston Globe

Published

7 hours ago

March 30, 2026

Press Room

‘That comes with a price tag’: How snow removal is busting town budgets – The Boston Globe

“The way we experience climate change is through extremes,” said Shel Winkley, a meteorologist at Climate Central. “All of that comes with a price tag.”

Across the region, officials are trying to figure out how to pay that price. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has already spent more than $185 million on snow and ice removal this winter — about $20 million beyond what was spent during the “Snowmageddon” winter of 2015. State officials are weighing whether to seek aid from the Trump administration.

Providence has had to cap spending for the rest of the fiscal year after record-setting snowfall. In Boston, where officials have trimmed the snow removal budget, the city was on track to spend nearly double what it had set aside for winter cleanup — even before the February blizzard hit. Cambridge has spent $6 million, more than 10 times the placeholder amount it budgeted for winter cleanup.

“This is an additional pressure point on an already pressurized budget situation,” said Adam Chapdelaine, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. “In some communities, it’s likely going to force some hard decisions.”

In Edgartown, officials want to tap into budget reserves to make up the cost, a step that requires voter approval. If voters don’t support that move, it could mean raising taxes, said James Hagerty, the town administrator.

A boardwalk at the Seaport District in Boston still has some salt and ice melt deposits on the wooden boards along with some snow, on Mar. 2.David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff

Local officials said federal funding would help, but they’re not counting on it. Some worried that partisan disparities in which states have received disaster funding under the Trump administration would put Massachusetts at a disadvantage.

“We are hopeful that the state and federal government might step in to assist, but it’s just waiting at this point,” said Gregory Berman, Chatham’s director of natural resources.

The skyrocketing costs are yet another reminder that winters here don’t feel the same. New England is largely trending toward shorter and milder winters. Massachusetts has lost about 30 days of snow cover each year over the last few decades.

However, experts say the relationship between climate change and total annual snowfall is more complicated. Think of it as two competing forces. On one hand, global warming increases the amount of moisture in the atmosphere; when conditions are cold enough, this added moisture can fuel heavier snowstorms. On the other hand, rising temperatures mean that winter precipitation falls more frequently as rain than snow.

The data reflect this mixed picture. An analysis of historic snowfall totals by Climate Central, a nonprofit that conducts climate change research, found that annual snowfall has actually increased over the past 50 years in Boston and parts of coastal Massachusetts, while inland areas have seen declines.

Looking ahead, researchers project that the most intense storms may become even heavier, producing more snow than blizzards past. This shift may already be underway. In the past 40 years, Boston has recorded 10 snowstorms that produced at least 20 inches of snow. In the eight decades prior to that, there were just three.

These massive storms can trigger extra expenses, as municipalities have to pay for equipment rentals, contractors, and overtime for cleanup around the clock.

Julie Wormser, chief climate officer in Cambridge, said that total snowfall data surprised her.

“Based on how quickly the ocean is heating up off New England, my bet is that the next 50 years of data will reverse that snowfall trend,” she said.

Cities and towns in Western Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the North Shore were hit especially hard. This winter, they received more than two feet of snow above their average.

A chart of snowfall totals in Massachusetts compared to the seasonal average, with parts of Western Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the North Shore receiving more than two feet of snow above normal. — Snowfall totals were higher compared to the seasonal average across Massachusetts from Dec. 1 to March 15.Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM)

On Cape Cod, Sandwich officials overspent their snow budget by $250,000, driven largely by the February blizzard. Town Manager George “Bud” Dunham said a day of minor plowing and treating roads can cost about $10,000, but major storms push that figure past $50,000. The town is still cleaning up downed brush and tree limbs.

If not for the storm, Dunham said, the town might have invested in new snow equipment or set aside funds for retired employees’ health insurance costs.

Mattapoisett, a coastal community on Buzzards Bay, also blew through its budget, spending nearly triple what officials had set aside. Still, Michael Lorenco, the administrator, said the town should be able to absorb the hit within its $37 million budget without raising taxes.

“I’m not a scientist, but towns near the coast seem to be getting more snow than they normally would in the past,” Lorenco said.

That doesn’t change the city’s responsibilities.

“Climate change or not,” he added, “we have to clean up the roads.”

Ken Mahan of the Globe staff contributed reporting.

Kate Selig can be reached at kate.selig@globe.com. Follow her on X @kate_selig.

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Massachusetts

Massachusetts bakery that made signature pizza trays for more than 100 years closes for good

Published

19 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Massachusetts bakery that made signature pizza trays for more than 100 years closes for good

March 29, 2026 / 7:49 PM EDT
/ CBS Boston

A Framingham institution that has been in business for more than a century closed its doors for the final time on Sunday.

Framingham Baking Company, known for its signature pizza trays, has officially shut down permanently. Crowds have been lining up around the block in the shop’s final days, with Sunday serving as their last day in business.

“That’s a wrap! Special thanks to all of our loyal customers! It was a great run. We love you!” Framingham Baking Company posted on Facebook Sunday after selling its final slices of pizza.

Founded in 1917, the bakery on Waverly Street became known for the square pizza slices.

The third-generation owners say they couldn’t find anyone to take over the business.

“We’re closing today after 109 years in business,” owner Joan Thomas said. “My grandparents, my parents, and my siblings – three generations have run this bakery.”

Customers explained why they were willing to wait in long lines to get their hands on some treats one more time.

“So many years of eating this pizza, and the bread, and the cookies. You had to be there for the end,” one woman said.

“My grandfather was a delivery guy for a long time. My first job was riding around with him in the van delivering to all the local restaurants. It’s tough to see it close, but it’s had an amazing run. Here for my last delivery. Bring some pizza home to my family,” another man added.

One customer waiting in line said it wasn’t just pizza the Framingham Baking Company provided, it was memories.

“Brought it to the cousins’ every birthday party, every gathering. Any time there was family there was pizza,” he said.

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Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ middle-class income range is highest in US., topping out at over $200K

Published

1 day ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

Massachusetts’ middle-class income range is highest in US., topping out at over 0K

Your household can earn more than $200,000 a year and still be considered part of the “middle class” in Massachusetts, according to a recent study by SmartAsset.

Massachusetts ranks as the top state with the highest income range for households to be considered middle class, based on SmartAsset’s analysis using 2024 income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Pew Research Center defines the middle class as households earning roughly two-thirds to twice the national median household income.

According to a 2022 Gallup survey, about half of U.S. adults consider themselves middle class, with 38% identifying as “middle class” and 14% as “upper-middle class.” Higher-income Americans and college graduates were most likely to identify with the “middle class” or “upper-middle class,” while lower-income Americans and those without a college education generally identified as “working class” or “lower class.”

Here’s how much money your household would need to bring in annually to be considered middle class in Massachusetts.

How much money would you need to make to be considered middle class in MA?

In Massachusetts, households would need to earn between $69,900 and $209,656 annually to be considered middle class, according to SmartAsset. The Bay State has the highest income range in the country for middle-class households. The state’s median household income is $104,828.

In Boston, the range is slightly lower. Households need to earn between $65,194 and $195,582 annually to qualify as middle class, giving the city the 19th-highest income range among the 100 largest U.S. cities. Boston’s median household income is $97,791.

How do other New England states compare?

Massachusetts has the highest income range for middle-class households in New England. Here’s what households would have to earn in neighboring states:

Massachusetts (#1 nationally) – $69,885 to $209,656 annually; median household income of $104,828
New Hampshire (#6 nationally) – $66,521 to $199,564 annually; median household income of $99,782
Connecticut (#10 nationally) – $64,033 to $192,098 annually; median household income of $96,049
Rhode Island (#17 nationally) – $55,669 to $167,008 annually; median household income of $83,504
Vermont (#19 nationally) – $55,153 to $165,460 annually; median household income of $82,730
Maine (#30 nationally) – $50,961 to $152,884 annually; median household income of $76,442

Which state has the lowest middle-class income range?

Mississippi ranks last for the income range needed to be considered middle class, according to SmartAsset. Households there would need to earn between $39,418 and $118,254 annually. The state’s median household income is $59,127.

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