Maple Syrup Certificate Course
The Maple Syrup Certificate class combines field work field practice with online instruction and a mentoring internship with a local maple syrup producer. Participants will be preparing themselves to join the growing maple industry in West Virginia and central Appalachia. Upon completion of the training program, participants receive 1-year membership into the West Virginia Maple Syrup Producers Association!
Online Maple Syrup Production Class:
The format will be largely online this year. Students will come together with their instructors virtually for 6 evenings of lectures, discussions, and after-class readings & hands-on assignments. Students will then be encouraged to attend the “Out of the Woods: Enriching Your Maple Business” Webinar series throughout the year for more in-depth discussions on syrup and woodlot management related topics.
Specific skills demonstrated during the six-week maple syrup production class are:
- Tree science and why sap flows
- Evaluating a forest stand for sap production
- Setting up collection systems & the importance of sanitation
- Sap to bottle—reverse osmosis & the evaporation process
- Marketing & selling syrup
Mentorship for the maple production training program:
Over the course of the sugaring season, arrangements will be made for class participants to work with local maple syrup producers.
Here students will gain hands-on experience:
- Tapping out
- Running an evaporator
- Bottling and labeling product
- Cleanup and pulling taps at the end of the season
By the end of this class students will be able to:
- Set up a sap collection system
- Evaporate sap to make maple syrup
- Understand the science behind sap and syrup production
- Evaluate the economic potential of the maple industry as it relates to their livelihood objectives
Click here to register for the course.
