Featured image: California crop progress, photo courtesy of Jesus Macias, General Manager West Valley Packing.
MARKET
Mexico/Texas Rio Grande Valley:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on April 10 that business is brisk for the two growing regions. “Movement is very good on both Mexican and the new Texas onions,” David said. “Total Mexico crossings spiked up a bit for about a week or so, but we expect that to fall off rapidly starting this weekend as several larger shippers are winding down.” He added that Southwest Onion Growers is finished with its Mexican crop, and he added, “In Texas, we will be in all three colors by this weekend. Yields are averaged to above average, and acreages are down.” He continued, “Quality so far has been great as has the weather as well.”
Don Ed Holmes with the Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said on April 10, “We have been incredibly busy. Tampico is finishing up early next week, and Torreón whites will start up mid-week.” In the Rio Grande Valley, he said, “We’re about 40 percent into the Texas crop now, and by Monday we’ll be halfway. The market has leaked off a little on whites and yellows, but reds are still red hot.” Quality has been great, Don Ed said, noting, “We missed all the rain.”
Idaho-E. Oregon/Texas:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on April 10, “We will be shipping from our Nyssa, Or shed for another couple of weeks covering our program business,” Jason said, “We are rolling full steam out of Texas now, and demand has been decent this week. Reds are tight and the market for those are increasing. We are seeing a dip in medium yellows, but Jumbos and up on yellows are steady. We are seeing good quality shipping out Texas too.” Jason concluded by saying, “Everything looks good for a California start on April 22.”
Northwest/Peru/Mexico:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing reported this week from his Walla Walla, WA sales office. “We are finished with Peru and now pulling from Mexico, and quality is very good,” Dan said. “We had a strong finish, and pricing was good.” He continued, “It looks like the hybrid market has settled, but the red market has remained strong. Now, we’re looking forward to our California deal to start.” Many thanks to Dan for sending a recent photo of Mexican onions.
California Imperial Valley:
Imperial Valley, California:
Mike Smythe provided an Imperial Valley crop report for West Valley Packing on April 10: “We are packing organic yellow onions on Monday. Our organics had some mildew, the conventional onions are mildew free. Sizing for yellow and red organics to start will be mostly medium sized onions. The conventional yellow onions will start packing Tuesday, reds later in the week.” He continued, “The crop is heavy to jumbo and colossal, some supers will be available. West Valley Packing will ship hand clipped and machine-harvested onions this season in yellows. The flat sweets which are grown in Mexicali will start end of April.” Mike also told OnionBusiness that, “Weather for the next 10-15 days will is normal to higher temperatures so we need to get started. We are looking forward to the season.” Mike extends his thanks to Jesus Macias, General Manager of West Valley Packing, for the photos. Click photos to enlarge and scroll.
Megan Jacobsen with Gills Onions in Oxnard sent us great updates and photos of Gills crop progress on April 10. “Harvest kicked off this morning. New onions will begin being processed at Gills Onions on Monday April 15. Who is ready for some fresh California onions?” The photos and videos are courtesy of Jose Cardona with Rio Farms, and Megan Jacobsen with Gills Onions. Click to enlarge photos.
Bronx, NY:
Lou Getzelman with Canyon Sales Co. on the Hunts Point Market told us on April 10, “We’re currently shipping out of Idaho, Washington, and just a little bit from down south,” Lou said. “A vast majority of our customers are still opting for the storage onions in New York. Regarding the retail packages we have started to see local packers switch over to new crop for Medium Yellows. The red deal is extremely tight, we figured it would jump big this week and it sure did. It is very hard to secure a full load of reds, so do book early in advance.” He continued, “Maybe we see Georgia come on in a couple of weeks with a chunk of reds, but that does not seem to be likely from what we’re hearing. It’s tough to really say what’s going on with yellows, the demand was not as strong this week, and that’s coming off of a sluggish week last week. There are more yellow onions around from sheds finishing out West than many of us anticipated. We’re just not sure how sustainable the current pricing is once they finish in Idaho in Washington. Mexico has come down on their pricing on yellows, but they still seem to be dollars above the FOBs out West. There are yellow deals to be had right now, but they may not last too long. Transportation has been very good. The weather is cooperating and we’re running flatbeds all over the country. It sounds like California is right around the corner, and we will be seeing those onions in New York once they start the week of the 22nd.”
CROP
Walla Walla:
Michael Locati with Locati Farms and Pacific Agra Farms updated us on April 10, saying, “We’re finishing transplanting this week, and things are starting to awake from winter.” Michael added, “We could use some rain always, but we are so far so good with water. That could change this summer – we will see.” He noted that labor “has been sufficient so far, and he said, “We’re excited for the coming season and hope everyone else harvesting is having a safe and bountiful harvest. “ Our thanks to Michael for the great photos of his direct seeded onions – looking fantastic!
California/Georgia/Walla Walla:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, WA, told us on April 10 that everything is set to go for a good start on April 17. “We have shipped a few Georgia Sweets but we are looking forward to the official start date for Vidalia’s,’ Dan said. “Quality looks good, and the Vidalia’s will help us with our East Coast Sweet Program as we work with California and Walla Wallas for the West Coast Sweet deal.” Dan continued. “The weather is improving for our Walla Walla crop and we expect a good crop and normal volumes. We’ll get started with those in late June.”
Colorado Western Slope/Corinne, UT:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said on April his Colorado and Utah growers are hard at it with planting the 2024 crop. “Colorado is planting now, and the Utah guys are about 80 percent in,” he said. “Everything looks good at this point.”
