MARKET
Washington/Idaho-E. Oregon:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported in from his Salem, OR, office on Feb. 2. “Demand is good this week,” John said. “I will say with higher prices comes less demand, so there are some buyers that are buying what they need off the market and aren’t too anxious to fill up their warehouses if something should happen to market pricing.” John added, “There isn’t a lot of demand for whites up in the Northwest, but of the demand there is for whites, Mexico should be able to handle that.” He continued, “Reds have been and are still a hot item, and everyone is still looking for jumbo yellows. Quality out of Washington and Idaho-E. Oregon is still good. Sure, you might hear of a bad load here and there, but overall the quality is still very good shipping out of the Northwest.” He also addressed transportation, saying, “Trucks are a little easier to come by, but rates are very expensive, and don’t look for that to change any time soon.” He said, “As I commented earlier the market has been very strong and we should continue to have good markets. Though some buyers may not want to stock up their warehouses right now, we need to keep in mind that when prices are higher, movement can be less, but we all just need to relax and we’ll all be fine. We may not be able to make up for all the past years’ losses in one year, but looking ahead, we can all have a good year and make some money if we just relax and stay the course.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Dan Phillips with Central Produce/Eagle Eye Produce told us on Feb. 2 that demand is good this week. “At this point in the season and for the pace we want to keep going forward, demand has been good this week,” he said. “I can’t speak for whites, because we are out of whites, but on reds and yellows, buyers are asking for all sizes.” He continued “The market is very good, too. It’s extremely firm, and we made a little bump this week. And it seems to be working.” On quality, Dan said it’s also good. “It’s normal to see more shrink when we get to this point in the season, but it’s our job to make sure quality in the bag is good,” he said. On transportation, Dan said, “It’s been easier to get trucks this week, but rates are still extremely high, and that hasn’t changed at all.”
Utah:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said he continues to move onions from his Corinne deal. “We’re still rockin’ along and have about another two weeks,” he said on Feb. 2. “The quality is excellent, and we’re shipping only yellows now.” Trucks are tight, but he said they have loosened up somewhat in the West. “They’ll tighten up again “although He said his Colorado Western Slope deal ended up being a good one, and he added, “They’re getting for 2022.”
Atlanta:
John Adams with John Adams Produce told us on Feb. 2, “The market is holding steady we have enough supply in Idaho to go to April.” He added, “Mexico is starting to cross the border now, but it’s coming in very slowly. Next week it should pick up, and that’s when we will make the transition.” On transportation, John said, “Trucking prices have come down a little bit – not a lot but they’re better than they used to be. And availability and trucks has gotten a lot better.” Looking ahead, he said “Mid-April will probably start in California, but for the most part everything has been going very steady.” He added, “I have plenty of organics available coming across the border, so if anybody needs, any let me know.”
Mexico:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on Feb. 2, “Business is very brisk, and yields are running 25-35 percent above normal.” Movement and prices are good, he said, “especially on the larger sizes.” David added, “We are shipping currently only white and yellow. The red onions we think we’ll be able to get into at the end of next week.”
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on Feb. 2 that cool weather had slowed the Mexico deal somewhat, adding, “We’re picking up volume now.” He said he’s shipping yellows currently, with whites possibly being added next week and reds to follow. “But there’s another cold front coming that could slow it down again.”
CROP
California Imperial Valley:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms in Salem, OR, told us on Feb. 2 that the Imperial Valley crop is looking very good. “It looks like the next couple of days there is some cold weather expected, but that shouldn’t have an impact on the crop,” he said. “In fact, this has been some of the best growing weather I have seen in the desert for almost 25 years. Things are going so well, we expect that we may have an early start, around April 15.”
Rio Grande Valley, TX:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen said the S. Texas crop is “coming along as expected” with some cool weather in recent weeks. –
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco said on Feb. 2 the Texas crop is coming along a bit slowly due to recent cooler weather and more on the way.
New Mexico/Chihuahua, MX:
James Johnson with Carzalia Valley Produce in Columbus, NM, told us on Feb. 2, “Fall seeded onions are looking great, and they look like they might be coming out of the winter sleep any day now. Temps are forecast to get down into the mid to upper teens later this week, so that will keep them dormant just a little longer.” He added, “Spring seeded onions are going into the ground now, slowly and without much excitement with the cold weather.” Looking at the region, he said, “I think overall acreage in New Mexico is down from last year, and after visiting Chihuahua last week and watching the transplants going in, I think they are off well over half from a year ago, with most of their plantings being whites for the national (Mexico) market.”
OnionBusiness.com would like to invite our growers and shipper, and onion sales friends that read our weekly reports and would be interested in weighing in with their input on the onion market and/or crop progress to please call or text us at 208-626-4681. We would love to hear from you!
