About Deal's Orchard

Deal’s Orchard has approximately 45 acres of apple trees, with over 25 varieties of tasty Iowa apples available throughout the season.

Starting in late August we crank up the cider press two to three times per week to make our own award-winning blend of fresh apple cider, yielding 30,000 to 35,000 gallons per year.  Watching the cider-making process is one of the highlights for many visitors each year during our tours.

For the last 25+ years, we have celebrated the harvest with our Fall Festival. This celebration brings thousands of visitors out to enjoy lots of fun activities “down on the farm.”

In the spring of 1999, we set out our first 750 Scotch Pine Christmas trees. You can come out with your family and make memories finding and cutting your own Christmas Tree!

The Apple Barn and gift shop are open mid-July through mid-January. Available in season are tomatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers, cherries, onions, squash, pumpkins, etc. In addition to produce, we offer HOMEMADE apple pies & dumplings, jam, honey, caramel apples, popcorn, seasonal gift items, fall decor, woodcrafts, kitchen gadgets, gift baskets & much more.

We are a family fruit farm operation started over 90 years ago by Frank Deal as a part-time hobby.

When Frank moved onto the home place from Illinois in 1917, he and his sons, Forrest and Lynn, planted 16 acres in apple trees, adding to a small orchard that was already there.

The 1940 Armistice Day freeze completely wiped out all of the private orchards in the area, and the Deal orchards, as well. Only a few trees survived the freeze. Lynn and Forrest pulled out the dead trees with horses and replanted, expanding the orchard slightly in 1941. In the late 1950’s, Lynn left the partnership to pursue other farming interests. Frank remained in the partnership until the mid-1960’s, when Forrest and his wife, Edna, took over the business.

Jerald Deal, the youngest of three children, and only son of Forrest and Edna, joined in partnership with his father in 1974. Jerald is a 1973 graduate of Iowa State University, but says he learned most of what he knows about growing apples from his dad and grandpa. Cindy Deal, Jerald’s wife, has a degree in elementary education from ISU and taught first grade for three years in Jefferson before staying home to help with the family business in 1976.

In December of 1986, Forrest and Edna retired and sold the business to Jerald and Cindy. Forrest passed away in May of 1987, but Edna enjoyed working in the Apple Barn until the fall of 1999. She passed away in March of 2001.

Today, Jerald and Cindy still own the family operation. Deal’s Orchard Apple Cider has been named one of the best in the state and the annual Fall Festival attracts thousands of visitors.