WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – About 70 percent of Indiana’s apple crop was lost due to freezing temperatures and snow that blanketed parts of the state in April, according to a Purdue University professor of horticulture.

The cold temperatures, along with several inches of snow, occurred April 20-21. Record low temperatures were set on the 21st in some areas of the state, according to the National Weather Service.

“The damage (to apple trees) was pretty much widespread across the state,” Purdue’s Peter M. Hirst noted. “The freezes occurred at the time of flowering, the most sensitive time to cold conditions. That’s the time we least want to get the cold temperatures. Any time except the time it happened would have been better. It happened at the worst possible time.”

At the Jacobs’ Family Orchard in Henry County in east central Indiana, temperatures dipped to 21 degrees both nights, said Stephanie Jacobs, the orchard’s manager.

The lower the temperature, the larger the kill of apple blossoms, she explained. The apple blossoms only survive down to 28 degrees. “At 27 degrees, there’s a 10 percent kill,” Jacobs said. “At 26 degrees, an 18 percent kill. At 21 degrees, you’re looking at a lot (of kill), plus being covered by snow. We didn’t know how they would react.”

The bottom line is the weather killed most of the orchard’s 2021 crop, she said.

“We don’t have any apples to pick to sell,” Jacobs stated. “I can probably find a handful (in the orchard). We normally have enough to sell and plenty to make caramel apples and for bakery items such as crisps.”

The Jacobs family will try to find apples from other states, but the Washington state crop has been impacted by extreme heat, she noted. Virginia and North Carolina had problems with freezing temperatures and Pennsylvania is also having issues with its crop, Jacobs added.

Damage at the Anderson Orchard in Mooresville, Ind., southwest of Indianapolis, depended on location and variety, said Iran Sterling, one of the orchard’s owners.

“At our U-Pick farm, 100 acres at the home place, it’s not great, but better than what we thought,” he explained. “But a half mile down the road (at another orchard), there’s nothing. It’s weird how different it is.”

Which varieties were damaged was also orchard based. Honeycrisp apples were really hurt, Sterling said, adding that Gala at the other orchard are non-existent.

“The average customer that goes back and picks their own apples will notice the apples might be a little smaller than usual, but that doesn’t impact the taste,” he said. “Everything is normal for U-Pick.”

The orchard always buys some varieties of apples elsewhere, Sterling said. He’s been told by suppliers everything will be good for getting the apples they need, but he won’t know for certain until they get there.

Hirst said it’s possible events like what happened this year could occur more often in the future. For about 15 years, he’s been plotting springtime temperatures at Purdue’s farm. “Everyone has been earlier than the long-term average,” he explained. “It’s getting warmer earlier. Crops are developing earlier. That increases the risk of frost damage. It’s one of the aspects of relying on Mother Nature.”

He said the trees that don’t have fruit this year will be fine for 2022.

Michigan, the nation’s third largest apple producing state, should have about 80 percent of its normal apple crop this year, said Anna Wallis, Michigan State University extension specialist focusing on apple horticulture. Many parts of the state experienced frost in April, but the damage to fruit was less than expected, she said.

“This has been quite a year for apple growers,” Wallis explained. “There were lots of extreme weather events that impacted the crop. The crop was two or more weeks ahead of average when we had the significant frost events on (April) 20th and 21st. Low lying, cool areas that got colder temperatures might have been more impacted.”

Areas that weren’t as far ahead of schedule, or were a bit behind, and not as sensitive to colder temperatures weren’t impacted as much, she added.

Some areas of the state dealt with summer storms that had 50 mph winds and hail up to 3 inches. “Even very small hail can have an impact,” Wallis noted. “A small nick can cause fruit to be unmarketable and it also may become a path for pathogens and insects to infect it.”

Hirst said the good news for Indiana orchards is that many offer U-Pick, pumpkin patches and other family friendly activities in addition to selling apples directly to consumers. “They’re selling a family experience in the countryside. They’re not just selling a product but they’re selling that family experience. They can still offer wagon rides and other activities even though the crop has been affected.”

After Jacobs’ Family Orchard posted about the situation on its Facebook page Aug. 11, the response was positive, Jacobs said. “After the post, everybody was fantastic. They were saying they were so sorry this is happening to us, that they will still come and visit and get their doughnuts. It was really good to see all that. We can still make doughnuts; we still have a pumpkin patch. The world won’t stop just because we don’t have an apple crop this year.”