Featured image: Fagerberg Farms yellow onion field, photo courtesy of Ryan Fagerberg
Market News
California/Washington:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported from his Salem, OR, office this week. “Overall the summer program has been good, given all that we have had to deal with on this pandemic,” John said. “When you think about it, foodservice was off, yet we were still able to sell plenty of onions. That’s pretty fantastic no matter what people say.” John said that Wada’s California deal is finishing up. “We will finish with our California onions in the next two weeks, and we have already started to ship out of Washington,” he said. “Quality is very good for these early onions. We had ideal growing conditions all summer, but we did get some heat here toward the end. All that means is that shippers need to be careful about the type of freight they use. Basically, be wary of shipping on flatbeds with these early guys. Probably it’s best to play it safe and ship on reefers and not take a chance.” Regarding his ability to assess quality firsthand, John said he missed getting out and about to look at fields this summer. “Overall, this COVID thing made for an extremely boring summer,” he said. “Normally, I am able to get out and look at the onions, but I figured with the coronavirus and all that everyone has to deal with along those lines, our growers and shippers didn’t need me trying to schedule a visit.”
Columbia Basin:
Jared Gutierrez with Columba Basin Onion in Hermiston, OR, told us on Aug. 5, “Movement here at CBO has been good. We are seeing a little pressure come on to the market as more shippers come online.” He continued, “We are currently shipping our early direct seed crop in yellows and reds. We’ll have whites starting next week. We’ve started shipping organic yellows and reds in limited quantity until we get the rest of the crop harvested.” And, Jared said, “I’m hoping the market can stay healthy and everyone can maintain good management control throughout harvest.”
New Mexico/Idaho-Oregon/Washington:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, reported to us on Aug. 5 that this week has been good for onion demand. “We will be finished in New Mexico this week, and we have moved up to Washington and Idaho-E. Oregon and are starting our shipments out of there,” he said. “Demand has been good this week. With the food box program still ongoing, mediums remain tight, and demand for jumbos is very good right now. Right now, we are shipping yellows and reds out of the Northwest, and we will add whites next week.” Jason said the market remains steady this week. “With several areas trying to finish up, there has been a slight dip, but it’s not a big concern. I feel confident that we can hold the market up if we all stick together.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Dan Phillips with Central Produce Dist. in Payette, ID, told us on Aug. 5 that Central will start running onions next week. “We will start out with yellows next week,” Dan said. “The reds and whites will be available the following week. We are anxious to get the season started, but I’ll be honest – we do have a little anxiety about demand and the market. When we were finishing up, the pandemic was just kicking off, and now that we are starting to ship onions full force, we are a little unsure about what’s ahead pandemic-wise.” He continued, “But one way or the other, we are ready to ship onions, and we’ll get them out on the market.’ Dan commented on the recent onion recall. “We aren’t too terribly concerned about the recall,” he said. “For years now, we have been members of Certified Onion, and we have all the pathogen tests should out customers want it. In the past, it was really only process customers that wanted test results, but we may see more buyers asking for this, and we have it for them so they can feel reassured that our onions are food-safe.”
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, said on Aug. 5 that demand has been good this week. “We have had a lot of interest from our customers,” he said. “They are excited that we have started up.” And, Steve noted, “This has been one of the smoothest startups that I can remember. He said Baker & Murakami has yellows, whites and reds available now, and he said, “The market has been steady this week, and I expect it to stay steady the rest of the week.” Quality is very good, he added. When asked about the effect of the onion recall, Steve said, “We have some customers refusing to buy out of California, and I truthfully feel sorry for the California onion shippers who aren’t part of the recall. Through no fault of their own, they are being penalized with the onion recall.”
Dwayne Fisher at Champion Produce Sales in Parma, ID, told us on Aug. 5, “The moment we have waited for since May has finally arrived! We are starting our Idaho packing next week!” He continued, “The timing is perfect on a few fronts, and the orders are already rolling in. With New Mexico wrapping up production and our California shipper finishing next week, the market should remain stable and positive. Extensive work and resources have been put into this crop, and when you calculate the costs of green topping onions in extra labor and resources, plus the sacrifice in yield potential for growers, positive markets are a must.” Dwayne added, “We are excited to be back at home where we are known for our service and quality. We also want to reinforce our food safety protocols and procedures, including our membership in Certified Onions Inc. (COI). Our long-time membership (since its inception) has meant that all of the onions coming from our farms or growers’ fields have had bulb testing that includes Salmonella and E. coli before they ever run across any of our packing facilities’ lines. Just another way our companies and fellow shippers from our region that are members go above and beyond! The important role COI has played in food safety for our shipping region is unique and hasn’t been given near the recognition it should. I would encourage buyers to visit the COI website at certifiedonions.com for information and to see who are members.” And, Dwayne said, “We are looking forward to a positive season. It’s always good to come home!”
Crop Update
Columbia Basin:
Jared Gutierrez with Columbia Basin Onion in Hermiston, OR, said on Aug. 5 regarding that operation’s crop the ground, “Our long day onion crop looks good and starting to finish up. They seemed to weather the heat wave that came through the area. The good news is that the forecast looks good moving forward.”
Colorado Western Slope:
Here’s some geography: Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, reported in on Aug. 5 from his Maine home to say Colorado’s Western Slope onion crop is coming along very well. Grower John Harold expects to start clipping the end of next week. “We’ll have onions before Labor Day,” Don Ed said. “The crop looks good, and everyone is excited to get going.” He added, “This start-up is more along the lines where the Western Slope should be. Some years they’ve started earlier, and last year it was after Labor Day. But this window between Aug. 20-25 is more normal.” As for the market overall, Don Ed said, “It’s fairly decent.”
Northern Colorado:
Robert Sakata with Sakata Farms in Brighton told us on Aug. 5 his fields had missed the spotty hailstorms that hit the region the day before, and he said the operation is still looking at an early-to-mid-September start for this season. “The onions look good,” Robert said. “The afternoon storms we’ve been having have cooled things off a bit,” he added. “And the onions are sizing up nicely.” RT also commented on food safety in light of the recent recall of onions, saying, “We all want to do everything possible to lower the risk for contamination, and we’re monitoring the recall and also learning from what’s been happening.”
Ryan Fagerberg with Fagerberg Farms/Fagerberg Produce in Eaton told us on July 30, “Thus far, we have experienced relatively calm weather conditions in Northern Colorado. We will have all colors and sizes available, including ‘Colorado Sweets,’ the week of Monday, Aug. 17.” Weather earlier this week had no significant impact, he told us on Aug. 5. Many thanks to Ryan for this week’s featured image.
