Featured image: Vidalia, GA crop progress on January 27, courtesy of Danny Ray with Ray Farms, Inc. in Glennville, GA
MARKET
Washington
Brenden Kent, with Sunset Produce in Prosser, WA, told us on January 27 that demand is good this week. “Retail business is strong this week, and we see jumbo yellow business picking up, which is encouraging,” Brenden said. “We are hopeful this will help stabilize the market too. Demand for our sweets is very good, and there has been an increase in demand for reds. Of course, white demand has been strong for months now.” When asked about the market, Brenden told us, “The market price doesn’t reflect its true potential. The world onion supplies are beginning to fall short, and we are starting to get calls from export buyers that we haven’t heard from before. We may have access to these export markets that will help us here at home. So we are very optimistic about the coming months and the finish to the season.” Brenden added that Sunset has been able to do some prep work for next season’s planting. “We’ve received some snow this week, but our goal is to get into the fields to plant in February,” he said. Brenden commented that Sunset is now on Instagram. “We just joined a week ago, and we are looking forward to sharing farm and company images as well as retail images from around the country. We hope everyone will take the time to follow our Instagram feed @sunsetonions“
Matt Murphy with L&M Companies in Raliegh, NC, told us on January 27 that demand is off this week. “It’s the typical end of January slowdown,” Matt said. “The good news is that truck availability has loosened up, and rates are getting better. We are still shipping onions out of Warden, and we will be finishing up with whites in about two weeks. We still have good supplies of yellows and reds that will carry us into April. At that time, we should have a smooth transition to our California desert deal.” On the market, Matt told us things are steady. “Sure, you have some dealing-making out there, but overall the market is steady,” he said. Matt commented on foodservice sales. “Several factors may have lessened the blow of lost foodservice business due to the pandemic,” Matt said. “Some shippers in the Northwest were able to get their season going a bit early in 2020. Plus, there are reports that some Northwest crops were short this season. That could help out at the end.” Matt noted that most in the industry see the light at the end of the COVID/foodservice tunnel. “There’s no denying foodservice has been a real struggle. Still, there is a lot of optimism out there,” Matt said. “People in the business see the country opening up and getting back to normal again. Not sure what that will look like, but we do see much greater demand for larger onions coming back this year.”
Idaho-E. Oregon
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, said on Jan. 27, “Demand has been fairly good this week. Not as busy as the last two weeks but still higher than I would have expected in late January.” And, Steve added, “The market has been steady. There is increased demand for Medium Yellows and small Jumbo Yellows for the Food Box Program.” Quality has been very good. Onions are keeping well, he noted. “Truck transportation is still a challenge day to day. Trucks have been readily available this week. Been a while since we could say that. Freight rates have dropped down from previous record high rates for onions!”
Dwayne Fisher with Champion Produce in Parma, ID, weighed in on this week’s report on January 27. “One week in and talks of higher wages, fuel prices on the rise, and looming carbon reduction requirements coming to our farms all translate to one outcome: our costs are going up,” Dwayne said. “It appears that is what we have to look forward to. In terms of what we know now, daily shipments exceed 400 and even 500 on days, demonstrating very good moment. It is always interesting to read the USDA Market report, and on the 500 plus days, the wording still indicates demand moderate. I think this demonstrates our internal feelings don’t always correlate to our collective reality – the country is shipping a lot of onions, regardless of where they are coming from.” Dwayne continued, “Our area remains way ahead of last year’s statistics, and I think given a more “normal” year this market would be much higher than its current levels.” Dwayne said freight rates remain very strong for their industry. “With fuel moving up, I would suspect that quotes will follow,” he said. “Although, given our willingness to sell under production costs, who really knows how this will all shake out. We have been able to find the needed transportation the past couple of weeks, so that is positive.” On quality, Dwayne said, “In terms of quality, we are thankful for how good our onions look and feel very confident they will be in excellent shape until the end of April when we will finish our season. Based on our internal data, I think it is pretty consistent across the industry; the first three weeks of February have very good movement. The Box Food program buying has started, but it appears those that received the bids are just buying their product on the open market instead of locking in at the bid prices and creating profitable returns for our farms. The extra demand should naturally create a tightened supply, and this market should move up as we continue to the last few months of our shipping season. My prediction is they are going to wish they would have locked into a committed price. The election is over, and just like that, blue states are suddenly feeling the need to open back up, so that will be an increased benefit to our movement and market as well. Many shipping regions are finished up. Pay attention to what the shallot market did in a one-week time span. Those same regions that came up short on that commodity are also short on onions. Everything looks positive for better returns as we finish up the season, but as a wise man taught me early in my career, “you are only as strong as your weakest link.”
Wisconsin
Doug Bulgrin with Gumz Farms in Endeavor, WI, reported on January 27 that demand has been very good for Gumz. “We are moving all sizes of yellows and reds,” Doug said. “Pre-packs and mediums yellows are in the highest demand right now. We will be finishing up with our reds in about two weeks, but our yellows will most likely carry us into May.” Doug said that the market for Gumz is currently a little better than average. “We have an advantage being in the Midwest,” Doug said. “When you can be closer to population centers, it gives you an advantage on freight costs and the ability to make timely deliveries when there are weather issues.” Doug commented on the recently approved USDA Foodbox Program. “The Food Box Program has done a lot to help keep the onion market up. This new round should help the market well into spring.”
Mexico
Mike Davis with Tex-Mex Sales LLC in Weslaco, TX, provided his report from one of his Texas fields on January 27. “As far stuff from down here, we’re moving some whites out of Mexico,” Mike said. “Now demand and price is going to be based on quality. When we’re receiving quality, the demand and the price will reflect that, but it all depends on what we get. Starting next week, we’ll start seeing light loads of Mexican yellows coming across, and picking up as we get into further into February.”
CROP
Texas Rio Grande Valley
Mike Davis with Tex-Mex Sales LLC in Weslaco reported on his Texas crop on January 27. “Looks like we could start up around the first week of March,” Mike said. “The last two weeks, we’ve had cooler weather, but since October, it’s been excellent growing weather. The crop looks great and we are excited to get this new season going.”
Vidalia, Georgia
Danny Ray with Ray Farms Inc. in Glennville, GA, told us on January 27 that his Vidalia crop is coming along nicely. “We had about two or three weeks of cooler weather, and growth slowed down a bit,” Danny said. “Lately, warmer weather has started the plants growing again. The younger ones maybe a little bit behind, but the older ones have caught back up. So we are in good shape. Once we get through February and into March, we should have a better idea on a start date.” Many thanks to Danny for sending photos of his crop taken on the afternoon of January 27.
California and New Mexico
Matt Murphy with L&M Companies in Raliegh, NC, reported on January 27 that the company’s California crop is progressing well. “The crop in the desert looks good,” Matt said. “This week, they’ve had 40-degree temps, but it hasn’t had any effect on the onions. We should have a smooth transition from our Washington operation to California. It’s a little too early on our New Mexico program to tell where we’re at there. We have about the same is acreage. We might have a slightly early start. Typically we get going around the first part of June. It could be late May. We’ll know more as we get further into the growing season.”
California
Megan Jacobsen with Gills Onions in Oxnard, CA, provided us with an update this week. “Our growing season is well on its way,” she said. “We have a major storm currently hitting California and the west coast now through the weekend. It may make it difficult to get into our fields, but the snow and rain are absolutely welcomed in dry California. We need it.” Megan also sent some beautiful photos. The onion images against the mountains and clouds we captured by Jose Cardona with Rio Farms in the company’s key growing region of Bakersfield, California, on January 26. The onions were planted in mid-December and are in their early growing stages. Megan said, “Note the beautiful SNOW in the background.”
The other photo pictures Steve Gill of Gills Onions. The was taken by Julie Locke of CVS AG on January 22 in Bakersfield, California. Julie Locke was quoted as, “The onions are beginning to peek out from the soil. It takes 3-6 weeks with cooler weather to reach this stage. They look fantastic.”
