David Raker started his maple farm in 1837.
“We've made syrup ever since, except the year that the new barn was built. Now, new is a relative term, because the new barn was built in 1888,” said his namesake great-grandson during Potter and Tioga counties' 21st Maple Weekend.
The current David Raker continues the family tradition of sugaring 188 years later at what is now of one of Pennsylvania’s oldest maple farms.
The Potter/Tioga Maple Producers Association held this year’s Maple Weekend through March 15 to 16. Farmers from across Potter, Tioga and Lycoming counties held open houses and educational events to celebrate the start of the 2025 maple season.
And today, March 18, is National Agriculture Day, which falls in the middle of National Agriculture Month, making this a good time to celebrate farms like Raker's.
For Maple Weekend Raker’s Sugar Bush, in Liberty, Lycoming County served hot dogs cooked in maple syrup and showed videos of harvest season taken in 1943 and 1959. The industry’s changed significantly over the last 200 years, but Raker said the last 20 made the biggest impact.
“People are more interested in natural syrups and natural products … People are just realizing the value in it,” said Raker.
Pennsylvania is the sixth largest maple producer in the U.S. and Raker added that production shows little chance of slowing down.
In his 2025-2026 budget, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed to more than double the state’s Ag Innovation Fund. The fund finances technology, conservation and renewable energy advancements.
Climate change impacts production
Besides technological advancements, Raker said climate change impacts maple production. Farmers used to start the season in late February and end in early April, but some now start in January or December.
Rising temperatures affect freeze and thaw cycles — which make or break maple production. While this winter was colder across Pennsylvania than previous years, the general early uptick in temperatures makes its possible beneficial effects negligible, Raker said.
“If it warms up too much, the tap holes dry out and they won’t run,” Raker said.
Maple season’s ideal temperature is between the upper 40s to mid 20s.
“The freezing and thaw cycle is necessary because it creates stem pressure — pressure in the trunk — and that's what pushes the sap out,” Raker said. “And what you do is you drill a hole about two inches deep, 5/16 inches in diameter, and put a spile on it.”
Spiles are small wooden pegs or spigots embedded into the trunk to allow sap to flow out.
“And the old way was to put a bucket and catch the sap and then go gather the bucket. Today, we have them on plastic lines and they run to a collection point," Raker said.
Farmers gather the sap with a pump and large tank. The old way is more “picturesque,” but today’s operation is far more “efficient,” he explained.
The whole maple season is fast-paced, around six weeks in total. For most of the year, sap lines aren’t in use.
Raker’s farm has 750 lines up year-round on his farm.
It takes 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Tree sap nearly looks like water, but is more viscous and has a sweeter taste.
Raker sends collected sap through an evaporator to remove excess water. In 2016, he added a reverse osmosis machine to concentrate the sap and make it sweeter.
Each new technology comes with its pros and cons, said Raker. He prefers the more “maple-y” taste from solely using an evaporator, but added the osmosis process is more efficient.
While producers can experiment with how they make maple products, they must follow state standards. In Pennsylvania, the Maple Syrup Producers Council requires all maple producers to sweeten their maple to 67 brix – a degree of brix measures the sweetness of a liquid.
“If it's too thin, it'll make alcohol,” Raker said. "But if it's just thick enough … then it keeps and you don't have to worry about it getting sour … You make it too thick, it'll start to crystallize.”
Not all crystallization is bad. Boil the thickened mixture down, and you’ll get maple candy, said Raker.
Raker’s Sugar Bush used to sell maple candies, said Raker. His mother, aunt and sisters used to turn thickened maple into maple cream, which is spreadable like peanut butter. Now, Raker keeps to maple syrup, but added he’s taught his children, nieces and nephews and their children the trade. His love for maple’s extended into the community, where he helped start other farmers’ sugar businesses.
'It's all up to Mother Nature'
Creekside Maples in Liberty, Lycoming County first got into the maple business around 30 years ago when Jim and Linda Kucharski started selling sap to nearby farmers. With Raker’s help, they started producing their own syrup in 2014.
Linda Kucharski said maple is the kind of business that brings people together.
“There’s people in the area that we’ve learned a lot from … We all talk to each other and compare notes, and that’s how we all learn,” Linda Kucharski said.
Her husband, Jim, added that maple production can be fickle, but it’s a great teacher.
“We've had some good years. We've had some bad years. … In this business, it's all up to Mother Nature,” said Jim Kucharski.
Even something as simple as the way the wind blows makes a huge difference, added Linda. She repeated a oft-repeated rhyme among maple producers that helps predict the flow of the season.
“If it blows out of the North, it brings it forth, they always say. And if it blows out of the South, it's not a very good run. From the East [produces the] least, and West is best. That's what all the old timers used to go by. And it's definitely true,” said Linda Kucharski.
Besides syrup, Creekside sells candies, mayo/mustard, sugar and peanut butter — all made with maple.
Raker said he’s proud to see new farms sprout around the state. Local demand for maple outweighs what Raker can imagine meeting.
“The demand for us … is so much greater than what we could supply. So, in that way, it's not really even competition,” said Raker.
Visit Raker's Sugar Bush at 1575 Raker Road, Liberty and Creekside Maples at 39 Old Mill Road, Liberty.
