Tapping trees with a purpose

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Tuesday, July 15th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: maple syrup—southern style.

When you think of maple syrup … you probably start with the country that has a maple leaf on its national flag … Canada does produce at least three quarters of the global maple syrup supply. The U.S. produces pretty much the rest—with the very cold, Northeastern state of Vermont accounting for most of American maple syrup production.

BROWN: But you may be surprised to find out that it’s possible to produce maple syrup as far south as Virginia.

Tucked into the Allegheny Mountains of western Virginia is the state’s only organic maple syrup farm.

Here now is WORLD’s Kristen Flavin with the story of a man who found his calling later in life, fueled by faith, family, and a forest of sugar maples.

SOUND: [ATV engine turns over]

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Kevin Conner is heading into the woods.

CONNER: Alright you’re going to want to … Have you spent much time in side-by-sides? [AO: Not really (laughs)]

He fires up his all-terrain vehicle to go check on his sugar maple trees. He took my colleague Addie Offereins on the ride and she recorded an interview with him.

CONNER: Everything is broken on a farm. Or there’s always something broken on the farm and we’re always in different states of repairs on different pieces of equipment…

These woods are part of Conner’s roughly 160 acre farm situated at the edge of the Allegheny mountains near the West Virginia border.

CONNER: This pasture has to get mowed down today, tomorrow…

During the summer, Conner spends his time maintaining the property, because in the winter, this area becomes the perfect place for making maple syrup. The winters are colder and longer than the rest of the state. But the window for collecting sap is short.

CONNER: Up in New England, their seasons could last for a month or two. Ours can go anywhere from two weeks, sometimes six weeks, but never more. So we make syrup only in this early spring. The closer we get to the spring and the warmer those days become, now the water in the tree begins to move. That's when the harvest takes place.

Sugar maples are just one of the many kinds of trees in the Mill Gap Farm forest. Tree variety is one criteria for earning the status: USDA-certified organic.

CONNER: We’ve got cherry oak, hickory, there’s ash. They want a good well-balanced forest.

The USDA also has rules about pesticides, certain types of oils used when boiling the sap, and the number of times a farmer can tap a tree. Conner follows all those guidelines.

And he starts tapping his trees in late January or early February. To do that, he uses a special drill to make a small hole in the trunk and then he uses a hammer to insert food-grade plastic tubing. Here he demonstrates the process to his almost 14,000 subscribers on YouTube.

CONNER: Now you're gonna hear it, it’s gonna change pitch. Once you get that pitch change, it’s in where it needs to be.

He discovered his passion for making syrup rather late in life. Other people his age are nearing retirement, but the 58-year-old Conner doesn’t anticipate his work ending anytime soon.

CONNER: This is my retirement basically, so where most folks might have money in IRAs or different things. I chose to take my money out of the market and put it into a farm.

Conner also met and married his wife later in life. They had their first of two children when he was 49. The Conners chose their life on the farm in hopes of raising their kids in a small community built on God’s values.

CONNER: We have certain savings and that sort of thing, but not enough to live for the next several years. But we do know that this farm can produce what's necessary for us to live and give us a good quality lifestyle so that every day we are productive and that we are doing things that honor him. And I think that's a little bit different than the mainstream.

Though Mill Gap Farm is the state’s only organic maple operation, it’s not the only maple syrup farm in Virginia’s Highlands. The Conners had to find just the right niche in the market.

CONNER: So we make maple, maple sugar, we make maple candies. Then we get into specialty syrups. A few years ago we became an organic coffee roaster so we take our organic coffee beans, we put that into our syrup, and then it takes on the flavor of coffee.

Farming is expensive. Insurance. Taxes. Equipment cost. Marketing the product. And costs keep rising.

CONNER: That's a lot of money. Where's a young farmer going to find it? I don't know. I do think every farmer does have to have alternate incomes.

The Conners had to get creative to keep the operation going. Kevin’s wife works one day every other week at a nursing home. The family raises Alpacas and Merino sheep and sells their wool. They raise cattle and sell some of that meat. They also sell a few vegetables from their garden. And run a popular Airbnb on the property.

A few of the Conners’ Merino sheep Photo by Addie Offereins

CONNER: It's got to be the sum of the parts or you won't be profitable. You can’t do it.

Conner’s main job in the off-season is maintaining the miles of blue and green plastic line crisscrossing the forest.

CONNER: We have a lot of problems with bears on the farm, they will come up and chew on a main line.

Other times he’s clearing out dead trees.

SOUND: [Chopping tree]

In March, thousands of people converge on the county for a maple syrup festival. As many as 30,000 may show up on one weekend and a lot of them will want to tour Virginia’s only organic maple farm.

CONNER: We start off with everything to get from God, and as a result, we're stewards of what He's given us, and we want to make sure that people see him through our actions in our products, and in doing so we share not directly the gospel unless people are receptive to it, then we certainly will, but if not we plant that seed about Christ and what He's done for us.

Conner expects the next several years will bring their fair share of challenges. But for now, he’s still fit and active.

CONNER: What does it look like in 20 years? Do we hire people? What is that life gonna look like? And I think about that almost every day. Hopefully my son will be able to make enough money to live a life that honors God here on the farm.

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

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