MARKET UPDATE
Washington:
Trent Faulkner with L&M Companies in Raleigh, NC, told us April 3 that demand is decent this week. “It’s decent but a little stagnant,” Trent said. “It is really hard to get a handle on what’s going to happen in the next several weeks because a lot has to do with Mexico, and as a country the U.S. has a hard time getting a handle on what is happening there. The market has leveled off over the past two weeks, but honestly it has the potential to go up or down.” Trent continued, “It is hard to say. We do know that Texas is late, and if Mexico continues to make money selling their own onions domestically and buying onions in the U.S., that will impact the market positively. But this might one of the few times I have said I really don’t know.”
Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco said clipping in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas will be done over the weekend, and he expects to be running 1015s Monday or Tuesday of next week. “Right now we need some warm weather,” he said of Texas, adding the high one day recently was 48F. “Onion prices are still holding well,” Don Ed said of the overall market. “The white deal varies day to day, with $40 on the low side and $50 on the high. The red deal is more solidified and will probably pick up as Idaho-Eastern Oregon winds down. I think the yellow deal feels better, too.”
Idaho-Eastern Oregon:
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, told us April 3, “Demand has been down for us the past two weeks compared what our weekly shipments have been all year.” He said, “With the nationwide shipments being down the past week, hopefully demand will pick up next week.” Though slower, demand has been even, and Steve said, “This week there seems to be even demand across the board on all sizes. There is very good demand on red onions as some shippers are out of reds for the season.” The market, he said, has seesawed a bit. “We have seen a dip in price this week on yellows and an increase in price on reds. “We have good availability on yellows and mixer quantities on reds,” he said. “And quality has been excellent.” Commenting on the number of shippers still active in the Treasure Valley, Steve said, “Best I can tell, by the beginning of next week we are down to about a dozen shippers out of Idaho-Oregon. It looks like we are going to have two or three shippers each week finish up in April. We have probably shipped 90 percent of the local fresh onions available out of Idaho-Oregon to date, and many of the remaining shippers are heavily committed with program business. The majority of the available fresh onions are in the hands of four or five shippers who will pack and ship into late April or early May out of refrigerated storages.” And, Steve said, transportation has been OK. “There are adequate trucks for what we need,” he said
Tampico, Mexico:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said he’ll be finished with his Tampico deal “either Saturday or Monday.” Don Ed added, “We’ve finished whites and reds already and will have the last of the yellows out Saturday or Monday.”
Colorado:
John Harris with Paradigm Fresh in Fort Morgan provided this report on Monday, April 1. “We are already through the first quarter of 2019. The yellow market on storage crop and new crop seems to be decreasing at a pretty good clip. Texas onions will start this week, adding a bit more pressure on the market although Mexican onions should be cleaning up. Whites have also been decreasing a bit, but that market is still short, so really demand is what will dictate where we see that market driven over the next few weeks. Red onion prices remain steady in both regions.” John said Paradigm has “decent supplies in Fort Morgan of just about everything. Reds and whites are mixer volume, and we have load volume on both mediums and jumbo yellows.”
Broker’s Perspective
Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum, ID, told us on April 3 that “things are picking up,” adding, “Boy, we were off to a slow start on Monday and Tuesday, but things are moving again today.” He continued, “I expect that later this week we are going to see more action, and by Monday and Tuesday we could see it break loose as it did a few weeks ago. You have to remember that we are on the tail end of spring break, and generally you see a slowdown during that time. The good news is there hasn’t been a race to the bottom, and the market has stayed fairly stable. It’s tough to say what is going to happen over the next several weeks as transitions begin, but we know Texas is late. And I can say we haven’t sold any Mexican onions.” Rick went on to say, “We can deliver from the Northwest to Texas at better FOB prices than Mexican product to the same location. Not that it means anything, but I was in Mexico last week, and I found it odd that there wasn’t a burger in sight that came with onions. You had to request them. And what was even stranger is that the ceviche there had almost no onions at all. Again, not sure what that means, but it’s something that makes you think. Anyhow, over the next 10 days to two weeks, Mexico will start tapering off. After that, other regions will start coming on so we’ll see what happens later on. But back to the immediate future, I think we are going to see some strong movement and upward pricing coming the first of the week with the pipeline emptied out and spring breaks coming to an end.”
CROP NEWS
Idaho-Oregon:
On April 3 we called Paul Skeen, president of the Malheur Onion Growers Association, to get his input on how planting was coming along in the Idaho-Eastern Oregon region. “Well, I had all of my earlies in by March 19, which is within the standard timeframe,” Paul said. “While I haven’t been to every area, I understand that in the southern part of the region from Nyssa south, 70-80 percent of the onions are in the ground. From Nyssa to Ontario, it’s about 50 percent, and then the farms north of Ontario remain somewhat wet, and they are doing their best to plant in between the recent showers. I do want to stress that all of these numbers are conservative estimates.” Paul added, “I have been watching the weather in Texas, and it looks like they are having rain issues of their own. I have also been watching the market, and I have to say in my 46 years farming onions, I don’t think lowering the price makes buyers buy more. It’s frustrating to me that some marketers think that strategy works. We’ll just have to look forward to an increased market with demand back on the rise.”
New Mexico:
James Johnson with Carzalia Valley Produce in Columbus told us on April 3 his spring seeded onions are looking good, and the crop is still on track for a third week of May start. “They are moving,” he said of the onions’ progress. “Everything looks very good.”
New Mexico/North Carolina:
Trent Faulkner with L&M Companies in Raleigh, NC, reported April 3 L&M will have two crops ready for marketing in June. “We have about 200 acres of yellows in North Carolina,” he said. “We anticipate getting going about June 10 and will run out of there for about six weeks. Our New Mexico crop is progressing nicely and in particular our second and third plantings have really taken off.”
