Sunrise Farms is a 5th generation family owned and operated farm nestled in the hills of Colrain, Ma. Joseph Jr. Lively started the farm in the mid to late 1800s when French Canadians migrated to Colrain to work in the cotton mills.

They worked the land, logging to supply the lumber for the mills and farming to feed the workers. They would tap the Maple trees with hand-crank drills, gather sap with buckets and horse-drawn sleds. Boiling was done by the light of oil lanterns and the evaporator was fueled by wood . Eggs were poached in the back pan, and coffee was made with sweet sap.

Back in those days the French Canadians liked their syrup “the darker the better” Rocky remembers his “Meme” (Grandmother) making Galettes, a French Canadian fried dough made with maple syrup.

Even though the land has seen a lot of change over the years, the Livelys still believe in tradition. Like their ancestors sold their syrup to mill works, the Livelys take their maple products to local farmers markets. Today the farm is run by Rocky and Marilyn Lively ( 4th Generation), Erik and Jordan Lively (5th Generation).

Newer technology for collection and production helps product consistency, efficiency and volume. Sunrise Farms has done away with buckets and hand crank drills to run all tubing and use a high-vacuum system and battery powered drills.

The use of a reverse osmosis (RO) machine to concentrate the sap helps with the boiling process to cut down the volume of water to boil out of the sap, thus shortening boil times significantly.

The addition of the ECO-Vap, and electric evaporator, improves efficiency, consistency and volume. The ECO-Vap makes Sunrise Farms Maple Production, 100% renewable. Everything running in the sugar house is electric, and the demand for electricity is offset by the Solar Arrays that are located on the Farm.

Today, the Maple Products at Sunrise Farms are Certified Organic.

With the addition of the ECO-Vap and Solar Arrays, we are now running our Sugar House on 100% clean renewable energy!

The Livelys at Sunrise Farms have made strides and prided themselves in making the finest pure Maple products that are made with renewable energy that makes less of a carbon footprint.

Sunrise Farms is a member of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association and member of CISA (Community Involved In Sustaining Agriculture).