Sugar bushes in southwestern and central Ontario had a fairly low-yield season of maple syrup this past winter.
Sugar bushes located on shallow soils appear to have had the hardest time pumping out a crop.
Yield ranged from less than half a normal crop to two-thirds a normal crop in many cases with very little light syrup, mostly medium to dark. Eastern Ontario reported average to above average syrup yields with predominantly light syrup. It is speculated that it may take more than one normal season of precipitation for drought-stressed maples to recover. During drought, in order to obtain adequate moisture from soil, roots tend to grow deeper to follow the receding water table. As the water table returns to higher, more normal levels, the zone of active roots become submerged.