Featured image: Western Oregon red onion crop progress, photo courtesy of Ryan Bennett with Northwest Onion Company in Brooks, OR
MARKET
Organic Onions
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading Co. in Portland provided his report on July 31. “In the wonderful world of organic onions demand remains good.” Brad said. “The market on reds remains above normal average pricing. Whites and yellows are right where they should be, with spikes in medium yellows as they are the shortest and most demanded item right now. Supply remains tight as we jump from Central California to the Northwest. We continue to move between areas efficiently and cleaning areas up quicker than normal seasonal movement. For us, our Lancaster, CA crop has started with great quality, limited volume this week increasing next week.” He continued, “We will have a second block of Baja Organic Onions coming around the 10th of August. Overall quality, especially new crop CA, is good. More and more of the bigger Organic suppliers in the Pacific Northwest will get started next week. Should smooth out supply and create a steadier flow. I believe markets will remain very good.”
Washington/California/New Mexico:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms in Salem, OR, told us on July 31, saying, “Demand has been decent this week,” John said, “The Northwest is getting started and they are busy, but they want to go slow at first to make sure everything is working the way it should be and while it may seem to some that there isn’t a plan, there is definitely a plan. With any transition, whether you are transitioning out or in, it’s a careful and intentional process and no matter where you sit, you want it to be smooth.” John continued, “So it’s the end of July and the market isn’t bad. Quotes are still in double digits and it’s looking good. We don’t know the future or if it the market will hold, but the market is in a good place. California has about two weeks to a month to go, and the smart shippers that know what they’re doing are putting quality inside the bags, and in that regard, I haven’t had any problems. Quality has been good all along.” John added, “I still am really confused about the NOA reports not reflecting the “true” numbers because California and New Mexico aren’t reflected in those totals. So, we don’t truly know what the numbers are and can’t rely on them. There must be a better way to address this, but it’s been an issue for a long time.” Finally on transportation, John said, “Transportation is easy to find, and of course, I do always say that truck brokers call right and left, but I should be mentioning that if you want the right truck, you are going to have to pay the right price. That’s all there is to it, anymore.”
Idaho/Washington/California/New Mexico/Mexico (through Texas)
This week, we caught up with Rick Greener with Greener Produce while traveling this week. He provided his report on July 31 saying, “Demand is steady this week,“ Rick said. “It seems like buyers either want the really big stuff or the little ones. It’s been good demand on yellows and reds, and it’s all over the place on whites.” On the market, Rick commented, “The market is holding and stable so far, even with the transition. Seems like we’re in pretty good shape there. I’ve seen good quality to start out of the Northwest, and that’s encouraging. It’s hit-and-miss out of California, but that is expected at the end of the season.” He concluded his report saying, “Remember, we have boilers, Cipollinis and pearls, so come and get ‘em!”
Bakersfield, CA
Megan Jacobsen with Gills Onions in Oxnard sent us a gorgeous harvest photo from Rio Farms on July 18, and photos from the IFPA (a photo from the tradeshow floor and from the IFPA Church Bros. Party.) Stay tuned… Next week, OnionBusiness.com will feature videos from the harvest and showcase additional photos from the IFPA event! Click images to enlarge and scroll.
MARKET/CROP
New Mexico/California/Idaho/Oregon:
Joe Ange with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, gave Eagle Eye’s updates on July 31. “Onion Markets are firming again this week as the CA and NM areas will be winding down within the next 2 weeks which is a little earlier than normal,” Joe said, “We’re seeing great demand this week on Yellow, Red, and White onions to finish this week out. Quality is very good in New Mexico and considering the extreme heat over the past 6 weeks in California, quality is actually holding in there as well.” Joe continued his report on Idaho and Oregon, “We will be harvesting here in ID/OR starting next week and will be packing out of both sheds by the week of August 12th. We’re enjoying a short reprieve from the heat and the smoke this week, but we have triple digit temps forecast again headed into the weekend. We expect sizing to start out on the small-ish side but we see good quality and everything is pointing toward a strong handoff of markets when CA/NM passes the baton up to the Northwest (yes that’s an Olympics-related dad joke.)
CROP
Idaho:
Jared and Mikki Zito with Zito Farms in Glenns Ferry, ID, told us on July 31 the farm is kicking off its 2024 season. “Harvest has begun!!” Mikki said. All onions are sizing up well with the help of this week’s recent cool down. We will begin with reds and yellows in smaller quantities this coming week.” She added, “As the harvest begins in the neighboring Treasure Valley our hope is storages will be utilized and not flood the onion market. We look forward to shipping quality, American grown onions to our dedicated customers.” Our thanks to Jared and Mikki for the report and the photos this week! Click images to enlarge and scroll.
Western Oregon:
Ryan Bennett with Northwest Onion Company in Brooks, OR, told us on July 30 saying that it that, “It Looks like our area is nearing the finish line After coming through a cool and wet spring, summer showed up in full force. Besides the heatwave that hit us around the 4th of July, we’ve had a favorable growing season,” Ryan said. “Onions seem to be about a week to 10 days ahead of where they should be. The early July heat may have advanced the crop a little faster than desired. Still plenty of time and beautiful foliage to finish out the crop.” Ryan continued, “Early yellows have been down for 10 days and long day reds aren’t far behind. The early planted reds are showing signs of fatigue with tip die back and just starting to lodge in a few places. We don’t have an exact start up date for packing, but we anticipate to start on the early yellows around the third week of August.” Many thanks to Ryan for sending in great photos this week, including our featured image. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
Washington:
Cody Anderson with L&L Ag Production in Connell, WA provided us with a report on July 30. “We got started last Thursday on our transplants,” Cody said. “The crop was a little slower this year with some cooler weather in the spring but is finishing nicely and is running well so far.” Cody continued. “Sizing has been right where we’d like it to be and we’ve been able to make loads up pretty quickly.” Cody noted, “We’re recruiting tractor drivers if you’re looking for anything else to do!” Many thanks to Cody for great harvest photos. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
