WESTBY: The Mississippi River Maple Association (MRMA) has announced plans to hold a series of organizational meetings and launch Wisconsin's first maple syrup production and marketing cooperative. The co-op will be organized to help identify marketplace opportunities that will return more money to the producer. The organization feels an excellent opportunity exists for farmers, and other landowners in the region to enhance their incomes by producing maple sap and/or syrup.
Although maple syrup producers have formally banded together in Canada, this cooperative is the first of its kind in the United States. Funding was secured for feasibility research and market planning from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection's Agricultural Development and Diversification (ADD) program.
"The cooperative will be structured in such a way as to accommodate families who would like to strictly produced sap," said Mark Kastel, a La Farge-based cooperative development consultant who was retained to help plan the new co-op. "Some producers will collect sap daily during the season, usually 2-4 weeks in the late winter, while others will operate 'sugar shacks,' boiling down and processing the sap into syrup," Kastel added.
Cooperative membership is open to both experienced maple syrup producers, who are looking for a premium price for their product, and to beginners willing to invest at least a modest sum in the infrastructure for sap collection (taps, tubing and storage tanks). Low-interest loans that might be available to help fund initial purchases will be outlined at the upcoming meetings. In addition, some land owners will also realize real estate tax savings by utilizing their wood for agricultural production.
Members without experience will be able to participate in a series of classroom and field workshops, this fall and next spring, on professional maple syrup production practices. They will be led by Ruth Gerber Rupp and other experienced maple farmers. Rupp has experience in the maple industry experience through ownership of Ocooch Mountain Acres an organic maple farm and factory located in Vernon County. She is also the founder and president of MRMA whose mission is to provide landowners with the resources they need to be successful maple farmers.
One of the ways the cooperative intends to secure top pricing is to help its members qualify for organic certification. "Unlike field crops, most Wisconsin maple syrup producers will not have to make any major changes in their methods to qualify as organic under the new USDA program," according to Kastel.
Initial membership is open to landowners or producers leasing land in Vernon, Crawford, Monroe, La Crosse, and Richmond Counties. Long range plans call for expanding the co-op throughout the Upper Mississippi Valley. Meetings will take place next week. A representative of the country's leading maple equipment manufacturer will also be available to answer questions.
