Roots, Resilience, and Maple: The Story of Baird Farm

·20 min·2 clips

Vermont makes over 3 million gallons of maple syrup, accounting for 53% of the U.S. supply.

The episode begins with host Doug Steffen introducing the spring farming season and guest Jacob Pausner from Baird Farm in Vermont. Jacob shares that his family taps around 15,000 trees on their 585-acre farm, which has been in operation for four generations. He notes the farm transitioned from milking cows to 'milking the trees' as maple syrup became economically viable. Jacob describes the 2024 sugaring season, starting tapping around town meeting day with their first boil on March 3rd. He explains Vermont's maple industry scale, with over 3 million gallons produced in 2024, accounting for 53% of U.S. production. Jacob contrasts old-fashioned bucket methods with modern tubing systems, detailing Baird Farm's 115 miles of tubing that function like outdoor plumbing. He discusses year-round farm work, including winter preparation and earlier tapping due to climate and scale. Jacob addresses tree health, explaining compartmentalization that allows trees to heal from tapping wounds, enabling sustainable harvesting over generations. He describes sap as 98% water, requiring 50 gallons to produce one gallon of syrup. Jacob highlights two key innovations: vacuum-assisted tubing that increases sap yield and reverse osmosis machines that remove 90% of water before boiling. He talks about the farm's agritourism, offering free year-round tours that include tree tapping and boiling demonstrations. The episode concludes with Doug promoting Baird Farm's products and website, emphasizing Yankee ingenuity in preserving family farms.

As heard by us

Maple season is presented as a careful blend of craft, timing, and farm business.

This episode follows Jacob Pausner of Baird Farm in North Chittenden, Vermont, as he lays out the rhythm of maple season and the farm business around it.

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Why you'd press play

A Vermont maple farm turns tree tapping into timing, labor, and the yearly work of staying sustainable.

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