[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 15 (Monday, February 9, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         TRIBUTE TO LARRY MYOTT

 Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I am pleased to recognize the long 
and distinguished career of Mr. Larry Myott, one of our Nation's most 
respected maple syrup specialists and a longtime friend. After nearly 
three decades with the University of Vermont Extension Service, Larry 
retired last week. Known by many as ``Mr. Maple,'' Larry has played an 
integral role in growing the Vermont maple industry into a $220 million 
a year industry. His educational work with Vermont farmers and his 
maple syrup promotion efforts have played a key role in expanding 
markets for producers, allowing more producers to make a living in the 
maple industry. While Vermont is the largest producer of maple syrup in 
the United States, Larry's work has transcended the State of Vermont. 
He has traveled throughout the United State and into Canada to assist 
maple producers and promote Vermont's maple syrup.
  I offer my gratitude for Larry's friendship and his great work on 
behalf of the State of Vermont's maple industry. I ask that an article 
on Larry's career be printed in the Record.

                      [From the Associated Press]

   ``Mr. Maple'' Retires From University of Vermont Extension Service

                            (By Lisa Rathke)

       Montpelier, VT.--Larry Myott just got an e-mail from Taiwan 
     asking him when Vermonters ``squeeze'' sap from their trees.
       The inquirer wanted to visit Vermont during the height of 
     the maple season.
       Myott, the maple specialist for the University of Vermont 
     Extension Service gets letters from school children, from 
     maple syrup buyers and from producers all over the world. 
     They ask how to store maple syrup, if it's pure and what to 
     do about crystals that form in the syrup.
       ``I'm often called `Mister Maple,' '' says Myott, 59, who 
     will retire in January after 28 years with the Extension 
     Service. Gov. James Douglas and others will pay tribute to 
     the maple man at a dinner Saturday.
       Myott has educated and assisted maple producers across 
     Vermont and promoted Vermont's maple products throughout the 
     world.
       He travels to Minnesota, Nova Scotia and Virginia to learn 
     what's new, share his expertise and spread the word about 
     Vermont's products.
       ``Larry has a love for the maple industry that is hard to 
     surpass,'' says Jacques Couture, president of the Vermont 
     Maple Sugarmakers Association, who was making maple candy at 
     his farm in Westfield Wednesday. ``He's a real promoter of 
     maple syrup, and he's done it actually by promoting maple 
     syrup to helping producers on the educational side.
       ``It's been a life pursuit for him to see the maple 
     industry by the best it can be.''
       Myott became the maple specialist in 1988, after serving 
     as Chittenden County Extension agent, and working with 
     vegetable growers and dairy farmers.
       And the maple industry today doesn't look anything like it 
     did then.
       ``Very seldom do you see buckets in the woods any more. You 
     don't see horses anymore,'' he says from his Ferrisburgh 
     home, where he is recovering from a stroke earlier this 
     month.
       Sugaring has grown from a side business for dairy farmers 
     to a year-round profitable operation for large producers, he 
     says.
       In 1988 the average producer had 1,000 taps and generated 
     250 gallons of syrup a year. Ten years later, the average 
     size grew to twice that.
       Now a large-scale sugarer might produce as much as 40,000 
     to 50,000 gallons a year, he says.
       New technology such as a system that uses a vacuum to pull 
     sap out of trees; reverse osmosis, which removes water from 
     sap without heat by using a high pressure filter system; and 
     super-efficient evaporators that boil sap with less heat, 
     have made sugaring far more efficient.
       Producers have expanded to meet the demand, and prices are 
     now high enough for them to make a living, he says.
       ``Sugarmakers are able to make a living in the maple 
     business today,'' he says.
       The syrup is also better than it used to be. ``The quality 
     has changed tremendously,'' he says.
       And efforts by the state to promote the Vermont image and 
     products and draw tourists have increased sales of maple 
     products.
       Vermont sugarmakers made 430,000 gallons of syrup last 
     year, bringing in an estimated $18 million to $20 million, 
     Myott says. According to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, 
     the entire maple industry generates over $200 million a year.
       The annual Maple Festival, a local fair started in 1937 in 
     St. Albans, now draws as many as 50,000 people from around 
     the world, Myott says.
       Vermont, the largest producer of maple syrup, is one of 
     only a few states to have a maple specialist. But Myott's 
     reputation stretches far beyond the Green Mountains.
       ``Because he's articulate, because he writes a lot, because 
     he'll take telephone calls from anyone at anytime. That 
     reputation spans not only Vermont and the region but also 
     internationally,'' says Gary Deziel, Northwest regional chair 
     of the UVM Extension Service.
       Although he's retiring Jan. 30, Myott says he will remain 
     involved in the maple industry. He will continue to write 
     about maple for Farming Magazine, Maple Views, Country Folks 
     Magazine and Country Magazine. And he will always take 
     questions from Taiwan.

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