SKOWHEGAN (AP) – Maple syrup production rose 13 percent in Maine this year, while production nationwide increased 17 percent, according to Department of Agriculture statistics.

Syrup production in Maine during the spring totaled 300,000 gallons, up from 265,000 gallons in 2005, the department said in a report released this week. Nationwide, syrup production rose 17 percent to 1.45 million gallons.

The rise in production is credited to an increase in yield as well as an increase in the number of syrup taps. In Maine alone, syrup producers this year had more than 1.3 million taps, which was 15,000 more taps than in 2005.

Production in Maine varied in different parts of the state.

“If you tapped in the southern part of the state, you had an average of below average year,” said Jeremy Steeves, secretary of the Maine Maple Producers Association. “In the northern areas, it was above average. It was purely weather-related.”

As usual, Vermont was the No. 1 syrup state with 460,000 gallons produced, according to Department of Agriculture numbers. Maine was the No. 2 state, followed by New York, with 253,000 gallons.

Elsewhere in New England, New Hampshire produced 64,000 gallons of syrup, Massachusetts had 40,000 gallons and Connecticut came in at 10,000 gallons.

Production values have not yet been calculated for 2006.

For 2005, production nationally was valued at $37.1 million. Maine’s production was valued at $5.7 million, while Vermont came in at $11.4 million.

The Department of Agriculture report said temperatures in maple-producing states varied widely across the country.

While producers in Maine, Michigan, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin reported favorable conditions, producers in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan and Pennsylvania said it was either too warm or too cold for a favorable sap flow.

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