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  •  U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott gather around the demonstration evaporator at Georgia Mountain Maples in Milton, Vt. with owner Kevin Harrison on Friday, March 8, as former Vt. Gov. Jim Douglas looks on.

  •  U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue tours the sap holding area at Georgia Mountain Maples in Milton, Vt. with owner Kevin Harrison. Perdue spent three hours touring the operation.

  •  U.S agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott tour the R/O room at Georgia Mountain Maples in Milton, Vt. with owners Kevin & Shannon Harrison. The 160,000-tap facility was opened in 2011 and is now one of the top five biggest in the

  •  Georgia Mountain Maples in Milton, Vt. opened in 2011 and is now up to 160,000 taps. It was the hosting facility for a tour for U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue, the first visit of a sugarhouse from an agriculture secretary in modern history.

  •  Georgia Mountain Maples owner Kevin Harrison and U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue wait for Vermont Gov. Phil Scott to find a good place on the tree for the first tree tapping on March 8, 2019.

  •  Vermont Maple Ambassadors Mark Turco Jr. and Michelle Poulin pose with Vermont Gov. Phil Scott and U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue at Georgia Mountain Maples in Milton, Vt. on March 8, 2019.

U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue tours Vermont sugarhouse

Georgia Mountain Maples hosts first modern ag secretary visit

By PETER GREGG | MARCH 8, 2019


MILTON, Vt. — U.S. agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue on Friday toured 160,000-tap Georgia Mountain Maples, tapping the ceremonial first tree of the 2019 maple season with Vermont Gov. Phil Scott. and a group of second graders from a nearby school.

It was the first known visit of a sugarhouse by a U.S. agriculture secretary in modern history.

“What we saw here today was an experience here for me,” Perdue said. “I’ve never tapped a maple tree before.”

Perdue, who hails from the state of Georgia and is the former governor of that state, said he was impressed by the operation, owned by the Harrison Family and a showcase facility in the country’s biggest maple state.

“It was good to come and see a modern plant here,” the secretary said of the sugarhouse, which sits on a ledge at the base of Georgia Mountain.  “I was blown away that Vermont produces half the syrup the U.S. consumes. I’m happy to be here during maple tapping season.”

Perdue, Gov. Scott, former Gov. James Douglas and state agriculture secretary Anson Tebbetts later toured Georgia Mountain’s expansive woods, its sprawling sugarhouse, the pump room, the R/O room and the sap storage areas.

Georgia Mountain Maples owner Kevin Harrison said he and wife, Shannon were notified about a week and a half ago that the secretary wanted to tour the Milton, Vt. facility, which opened in 2011 and is now one of the top five biggest sugarhouses in the nation.

“It was great for us,” Harrison said of the visit.  “He was very sharp and it was great to show him something that might not necessarily be in his forte.  But he left here with a good knowledge of the maple process.”

During the tour, Harrison explained in detail the process of syrup making from tree to evaporator.  

He and Perdue walked the wet/dry pipeline system and talked about the concepts of high vacuum technology.  

Back at the sugarhouse, in the pump room, Perdue commented that Harrison “was milking the trees,” just like a dairy operation.

Harrison said he was hoping the season would be in full swing for the visit, but like all Vermont sugarhouses this week, they were idle in the freezing temperatures.

Perdue claimed that maple syrup is what he personally uses on his pancakes back home in the Deep South.

“We use it in Georgia certainly,” he said.  “That’s our syrup of choice in Georgia, even more than cane syrup.”