Weather whiplash could wipe out Iowa apple crops

State of play: Once apple buds start deacclimating to cold weather, they can be damaged by temperatures that wouldn't have hurt them a week earlier — putting yield at risk as the growing season approaches.

By the numbers: Des Moines hit a record high of 68° on Monday, after starting the month with lows in the teens.

• Sunday's projected low is 5°.

Zoom in: Iowa had 498 farms growing 1,323 acres of apples in 2022, according to the latest USDA Census of Agriculture.

• That's up from 428 farms and 943 acres five years earlier.

Stunning stat: Iowa was once a top apple-producing state in the early 1900s, behind only Michigan, until the "Armistice Day Blizzard" of 1940.

• It still doesn't rank among the top apple-producing states.

Flashback: In 2012, most of the apple crop in the Eastern U.S. was lost due to a warm winter and a late freeze.

What they're saying: Iowa growers hope the temperature swing will only result in a 10-40% loss, Suzanne Slack, a fruit specialist and assistant professor of horticulture at Iowa State University, tells Axios.

• If that is the result, the weather whiplash could end up saving growers money on thinning techniques used to produce better fruit, she said.

Worthy of your time: Slack's work in adapting apple varieties to modern growing conditions.

What's next: Slack plans to conduct bud assessments in central Iowa next week to gauge how far along trees are, providing early intel that can help growers anticipate potential losses and inform management decisions.