Virtually all of the world's maple syrup is produced in Canada, the Northeast U.S. and some upper Midwestern U.S. states, where natural conditions for maple sugaring are perfect: wet summers, cold winters and springs with fluctuating temperatures above and below freezing. The same environmental conditions that support maple trees also produce a host of fruits, nuts and berries, like pawpaws, juneberries and hazelnuts.
The Cornell Maple Program seeks to combine these natural treasures. Aaron Wightman '97, co-director of the maple program is leading a multi-year study on growing high-value fruit and nut species within the 350-acre maple sugarbush in Cornell's Arnot Forest. Such agroforestry systems - in which producers collect forest products and grow agricultural crops simultaneously - can increase farming efficiency and profitability, diversify crop offerings and strengthen business resilience. To support producers, the maple program is also developing and testing distinctive products like maple-elderberry wine, maple-pawpaw ice cream and maple hazelnut spreads.
"There's been a huge increase in demand for products that are locally grown, all natural and made with ingredients that customers recognize," Wightman said. "We wanted to develop more products from a diversified set of crops that would stand out in the marketplace, bring people to these farms and help New York maple businesses be profitable."
