Sweet science: Vermont maple syrup industry embraces hi-tech tricks

Harvesting syrup from maple trees has been a tradition for centuries, but new techniques are helping sugarers modernize their farms and maximize yields

The late March wind tugs at the jackets of Mooretown Elementary students as they clamber after Burr Morse into a wooden sugar shack. Morse, 70, is taking a break from preparing for open house weekend, the annual Vermont maple free-for-all, where 94 farms will open their doors to the public, offering sugar-on-snow, sleigh rides, and maple treats. The sap is temporarily frozen, but sugarers are anticipating potential flow over the weekend, when the temperatures hit a high of 40 degrees.

They'll extract it using high-tech reverse osmosis machines, refine it at a level three times as efficient as a 2004 farm, and power the whole facility using wind power, solar energy and cow manure. The industry's gains in efficiency have even offset a problem creeping up on all agriculture: climate change, which is shortening the sugaring season.