The sap is flowing in northern New England and officials say a spike in prices has encouraged more people to set up backyard maple syrup operations.
Henry Marckres is a maple specialist with the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, and says the state has seen a tremendous increase in recent years in the number of people who have a few maples on their property and want to produce syrup.
Two years ago, a syrup shortage caused prices to soar to $60 a gallon. Now, the average retail price is about $48 a gallon.
Marckres says the economy and an interest in producing local food are also driving the syrup-making.
He estimates there are about 2,000 small producers in Vermont.