Liquid gold.

That's how Cornell maple expert Michael Farrell describes the product of sugar maple trees. It's part of his message of trying to convince landowners in New York and other Northeastern states where the maples grow in abundance to increase their production of maple syrup. New York's maple trees, he avers, could provide nearly 300 million taps, creating a huge financial boon to the region, as well as providing many new rural jobs. Yet less than 1 percent of those trees are currently used for maple syrup production.

Farrell, director of Cornell's Uihlein Sugar Maple Research and Extension Field Station in Lake Placid, studies why U.S. maple syrup production has stagnated over the past 150 years even while Canadian output has soared to 80 percent of the world's supply.

His early research suggests that cultural, economic and political factors -- not a shortage of trees or, as some suggest, climate change -- have weakened the U.S. maple syrup yield.

"There are cultural and socio-economic factors that dictate production," said Farrell. "Some areas, like West Virginia, have even more maples than Vermont but just don't have the tradition of producing syrup as part of their communities. Canada has pushed tons of resources toward its maple industry, especially in Quebec, and it's a large part of the rural lifestyle up there."

If New York producers tapped the same ratio of maples in its forests as does Vermont (2 percent), annual New York syrup production revenues could rise to close to $50 million, up from an estimated $12.9 million, according to Farrell.

"New York has the most tappable maple trees of any state or province," Farrell said. "In the U.S. we currently import four times as much syrup as we produce, which presents an incredible opportunity for local producers to step in and fill our growing markets."

This year Farrell assisted staff in U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer's office to introduce legislation to build industry infrastructure and grant greater access to trees on private lands. The bill has been tabled, but Farrell is confident it will reappear next year with support from other Northeast senators serving on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Meanwhile, Farrell and professors Richard Stedman and Brian Chabot of the Cornell Maple Program have begun to survey 2,000 maple producers and 2,000 forest landowners across the state in partnership with Lewis County's Office of Economic Development. The county is conducting a feasibility study for a large-scale bottling facility and wants to gauge how much syrup New York producers can generate in future years.

The landowner survey is essential because more than 90 percent of the state's tappable trees grow on privately owned lands. Farrell hopes sustained outreach to New York's 500,000 forest owners could encourage them to begin maple production or to allow nearby producers access to their trees.

"The trees are there -- we just have to make the investment to start tapping more of them," Farrell said.

Ted Boscia is a communications specialist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.