Featured image: Telesis onion crop, photos by Danny Garcia with Telesis Onion, and sent in by Mike Smythe with Telesis Onion.
MARKET
Five Points, California:
Mike Smythe provided his report for Telesis Onion on July 17. “Telesis Onion is on schedule with harvest,” he said. “We are packing varieties when they need to be packed and staying ahead of the coming heat. Business for all three colors is brisk, we are sold out for the next three days and the market should be stronger opening on Monday. We expect colossal and super colossal onions to tighten up next week and through the end of the season. All reds will be harvested by the end of July, which is early for us. We will pack out of the cold room for the next week or two. White onions are mixer business only through the end of the season.” Mike continued, “We hope to wrap up a week early this season. We want to get out of the way before the Pacific Northwest gets rolling with all three colors. Starting Monday, the colossal and super colossal yellows will be on contracts only. Jumbo and medium yellows will be heading toward contract pricing only in the 1st week of August. Quality out of our shed has been excellent; trucks are showing up on time.” Thanks to Mike for sending in the great photos Danny Garcia took with Telesis Onion this week.
Five Points, CA:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms in Salem, OR, told us on July 17, saying, “Well, I think everyone knows, the heat is out there in virtually every shipping region,” John said, “Still, these growers are doing a great job dealing with the heat and protecting the onions. The biggest thing people care about right now is making arrivals, and it’s working.” John continued, “I would say it’s just an average week for onion sales. Business is good, but we don’t have to scramble around getting all anxious. We are business, and that’s good, but it’s not crazy, and that’s good, too. Starting at the end of next week, we’ll start to see more Norwest folks coming on, and normally, that would put a bunch of pressure on, but it probably won’t affect pricing much. For the guys left to finish in the south, any onions they have that may have some heat stress can most likely get them to a processor pretty easily because the onions are still good, and processors can take them. We should have a smooth transition.” Finally, on transportation, John said, “Well, I am back getting a mountain of truck broker calls, so trucks can’t be that tight.”
Bronx, NY:
Lou Getzelman with Canyon Sales Co. on the Hunts Point Market told us on July 17, “Demand feels like it is all over the place again this week,” Lou said. “Customers are looking for high-quality onions, however, the heat has put significant stress on the product arriving cross country to the Northeast. It certainly feels like the yellow market is starting to trend up as shippers are really trying to pack the best possible onion and tossing what won’t travel. High-quality medium reds are still not easy to find, even though there are some jumbos are out there.” He continued, “The white market has held up well and the highest-quality whites even increased in price this week with sustained demand. We’re excited that we’re also going start seeing some New York Jumbo Yellows on the market next week, with Canada, not too far behind. Following next week, we expect to start pulling from some from the northwest as they’ll be getting going last week in July/early August. On transportation, Lou said, “Transportation cross country has been relatively easy, although it was slightly higher this week. Stay and keep cool everyone!”
Organic Onions
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading Co. in Portland provided his report on July 17. “Hello, organic onion nation!” Brad said. “Been a little while since I posted, however not a lot has changed. Demand for Organic onions continues to be strong! Reds are still in short supply and price has softened a little but still very active and very good. Yellows continue to maintain a good seasonal market with of course mediums in higher demand than jumbos. Organic whites, good organic whites, are in a shortage hole that should be filled up some with the new early August harvest in CA and second harvest in Baja CA.” He continued, “We are still getting a few organic onions from the mainland of Mexico, and our first Baja Harvest is just finishing as we anticipate the second block. There are a few winter overs on the market out of the Northwest, with main supplies coming from Central CA. New Mexico and Arizona are supplying some organics as well. The recent heat wave in California has created some quality issues with a true result of that weather outcome to show up later this month.” He also noted, “ Still shipping a few Organic Vidalia’s and quality remains good. Stay cool!”
New Mexico/California/Mexico/Spain:
Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum, ID, provided his report on July 17. “We’re shipping out of New Mexico, California, Mexico, and we have onions coming from Spain for customers on the East Coast,” Rick said. “The onions from Spain have nice skin and look more like a storage onion. That deal will go until November sometime.” Rick continued on demand. “It’s really just regular business, and even though I would probably rate it as a soft market, we are busy with our regular stuff. It looks like quality is holding up with the heat for the most part, and it seems growers are doing a good job dealing with it.” On the market, Rick said, “The market is holding steady on yellows. Holding strong on reds, but I have to say, the market is all over the board on whites. I think a lot of that concerns the quality of whites. Reds and yellow prepacks and mediums are getting snug. We will see the Northwest direct-seeded start trickling in on the 1st of August, so we’re preparing for that. Freight’s no problem. We are getting anything we need. Overall, it’s just a typical week in July.”
Walla Walla, WA:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing reported on July 17 from his Walla Walla, WA sales office. “Right now, we are heavily marketing our Walla Walla Sweet crop. Demand and pricing is strong,” Dan said. “We have good volume and sizing is large this season. We have about another month or so to go and are taking special care with the higher temperatures. We ensure we can get everything picked up and under cover every night to protect the quality, and our growers are doing a really nice job with them. Our growers put a layer of sunblock on them that protects the onion skins. It helps.”
CROP
Colorado Western Slope:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, told us on July 16 that his Colorado Western Slope growers are reporting a normal season thus far. “I haven’t seen this crop, but it’s being described as average in stands and maturity,” David said. He expects the season to run from “probably a Labor Day to mid-December as usual.” He’ll have all three colors, and he said the growers, Mike Ahlberg and sons and Brent Hines in Delta, CO, are farming similar acreage to last year.
