You may see freshly made maple syrup a lot sooner than you have in previous years. In Wisconsin, most Wisconsin syrup producers tap their maple trees to collect sap beginning in the middle of March and wrap up the production process a month later. This year, the spring-like temperatures that greeted producers all winter long allowed them to tap their trees beginning in late January, over a month ahead of normal. Hillside Apples owner Bill Roethle has already collected more sap than he needs to make his maple syrup almost a week before he even tapped his trees in Casco last year. He says maple syrup producers got the right combination of cooler nights and warmer days earlier than usual.

What is suitable for his maple trees may not be great for his apple trees. The high temperature is expected to be near 60 degrees on Tuesday and be near 50 degrees off and on for the next ten days. Roethle says if the trees are tempted to bud, an accompanying frost could harm his crop.