Iowa apple crop rebounds in 2015

Iowa apple growers experienced a rebound in 2015 from a sharply lower harvest in 2014 due to difficult spring weather and pockets of hailstorm damage.

The state's apple crop was estimated at 4.8 million pounds, up 7 percent from 4.5 million pounds in 2014 but down from 7.3 million pounds in 2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Yield per acre was estimated at 5,330 pounds, up from the 2014 yield of 5,000 pounds per acre. Yield per acre is based on total production, which includes unharvested production and fruit harvested but not sold due to market conditions.

The weighted average price received for all categories of apples was a record 86.3 cents per pound in 2015, up from 77.9 cents in 2014. Utilized production rose to 4 million pounds in 2015 from 3.8 million pounds in 2014.

The value of utilized production was up 17 percent from $2.96 million in 2014 to $3.45 million in 2015.

Marcus Johnson of Buffalo Ridge Orchard near Central City said the 2016 crop is looking 'pretty good.”

'We had one frost event on April 12 that we were a little bit concerned about, but we feel we came through that all right,” said Johnson, who owns Buffalo Ridge Orchard with his wife, Emma, and her parents, Mary and Vernon Zahradnik.

Buffalo Ridge Orchard, which has grown from 800 to more than 3,600 dwarf apple trees in recent years, sells its production primarily at farmers markets. It also wholesales to a couple of local restaurants as well as Coe College and Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids and Cornell College in Mount Vernon.

Buffalo Ridge Orchard, 1337 Rollins Road, about three miles northeast of Central City, is hosting a field day from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Johnsons will share their management schedule for the year, demonstrate summer pruning on 2-year-old and mature dwarf apple trees, walk through use of the spray equipment and products, show their orchard equipment, and discuss ongoing improvements to harvest efficiency.