Warming temperatures this week are one sign of spring. Another is maple syrup.

Last week, Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding kicked off the maple tapping-season at Dewy Meadows Farm in Bradford County, celebrating Pennsylvania’s maple syrup industry alongside the Pennsylvania Maple Producers Council and Pennsylvania Hardwoods Development Council.

“Pennsylvania agriculture is a sweet business to be in,” Redding said. “There’s no better place to tell that story than on a family-run maple farm like Dewy Meadows. But what’s even sweeter is having a governor like Josh Shapiro, who recognizes how central it is to a bright, promising future for families and communities across our Commonwealth, and how critical it is to invest in our future together.”

Pennsylvania is the nation’s fifth largest producer of pure maple syrup, producing nearly 200,000 gallons per year worth $5.4 million. Dewy Meadows Maple, a Pennsylvania Century Farm, has been passed down through generations of the Andrew and Sally Dewing family, who have made maple syrup and sugar there for more than a century.

Nature is one of this state’s greatest commodities. We’re lucky here in Warren County to have the Allegheny National Forest and the river to help drive our economies as well as tourism.