Featured image: Troy Caston Farms crop progress in the Imperial Valley, CA, courtesy of John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms
MARKET
Washington/Mexico
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing reported from his Walla Walla, WA, sales office on March 9. “Demand and the market are both very high,” he said. “Of course, many Northwest growers had a short crop this year, so some growers are finishing sooner than normal, and supplies are tight. But overall, demand is strong this week, and pricing is also very strong.” He continued, “Mexico is shipping more volumes this week. Texas is ramping up and by the end of the month, we should see pretty high volumes coming out of Texas.” Dan said that Keystone will finish with their Northwest open onions April 1. “As far as our Northwest hybrid shipments go, we will have our program business that we will extend through April and into May, but our open onions will be finished up by April 1.”
Washington:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported from his office in Salem, OR, in early March. “Well, demand is high and supplies are low,” he said. “The market is steady, and it’s at comfortable levels now, where prices are good but not so high that buyers quit buying, and that should continue. Northwest shippers aren’t necessarily finishing, but they are winding down, and I have to hand it to these Washington shippers. They are really good people – covering their contracts and keeping their customers happy when the open market is probably higher than what their contracts are. You always want to see all regions do well, and it’s sad when it seems like onion prices get higher when a region experiences problems, but I suppose everyone gets to take a turn.”
Idaho-E. Oregon/Washington:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 9 that demand has been good this week. “Demand is really good, and supplies are getting short,” he said. “Our Central Produce operation will be finishing by the middle of next week. We have a few open onions, but we are mainly shipping program business at this point. The market has been steady, and it should be increasing in the weeks to come as more shippers finish. There hasn’t been much pressure from Mexico and though Texas has started, there is very little volume being shipped right now.” On transportation, Jason said rising fuel costs are making freight difficult. “If there isn’t some relief on fuel for these truckers, they won’t be able to make it and we could see fewer trucks available for our shipments. It’s getting critical out there.”
Idaho:
Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum reported on March 9. “We’re shipping onions out of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and North Dakota this week,” Rick said. “We are also pulling new crop out of Texas and Mexico which is trickling in. The quality range is from good to great! Smaller growers are winding down or have already finished, so short supplies have kept a strong market. All sizes are selling out this week and we’re having to push orders into next week.” On transportation, Rick said it was down for a bit. “Soaring fuel costs are pushing rates back up. I recommend pre-planning to get what you need when you need it. Buyers need to be aware that “floor scrapings” and extra volume is not the current situation, so don’t plan on those types of buys right now.”
Mexico/S. Texas:
Don Ed Holmes with the Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 9 volume continues to pick up Mexican onions, and he is shipping all three colors this week. “They’re coming in with better supplies this week. “As Mexico comes in with more onions, I think we’ll see a rearranging of the deck a little bit,” he said of supplies. With Texas South Texas, he said, “Some early varieties and presold in cartons are being shipped,” but he noted cooler temps continue to hang on in the Rio Grande Valley, with highs in the 50s parts of this week. Onion House will start shipping its Rio Grande Valley onions the first week of April.
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on March 9 that “volume out of Mexico is picking up for everyone.” He continued, “Weather down there has been perfect, and stuff’s starting to come in that should have come two weeks ago.” Southwest is shipping all three colors, and David said the market is staying “pretty steady.” He said there are some days when “movement isn’t what we want it to be, but it’s picking up.” About transportation, he said rates had been coming down prior to recent oil-related events on the world stage.
Atlanta:
John Adams with John Adams Produce weighed in the first week of March to tell us market conditions he’s been observing. John said, “What I’m seeing this week is an uptick in whole peeled onions, and there’s also an uptick in wholesale onions. And there are still plenty of onions out in Idaho with good quality. I talk to my friends down in Texas, and they’ve got Mexican onions in now, but the pricing seems to be a little high as it is always at the beginning of the season.” He continued, “I thought I would see more peeled onions going out, but with the way the economy is in inflation, people have to choose whether they’re going to go out to eat or buy food for their house. At least that’s the way I’m looking at it. People have to choose whether to put gas in the car so they can get to work or go out to eat right now, and a lot of people can’t do both.” John added, “I got several POs for next week, more than half of this week, so maybe it’s turning around.” And John Adams concluded, “I want to end this by saying anyone that’s reading this should make their voices heard by their congressman. Tell them that American farmer are being hurt badly by these prices for fuel. Tell them to open the Keystone pipeline.”
CROP
Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco said on March 9 temps in the Rio Grande Valley were below normal, and it will be the first of April when he starts shipping Texas onions.
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen said on March 9 that weather in S. Texas remained cooler than normal, and he said his operation is looking at late March for a start.
SE Colorado:
Zach Mason with Zach Mason Farms in Fowler told us in early March, “Onion planting is underway in the Arkansas Valley! It’s extremely dry and the water situation doesn’t look favorable for this part of the state, but the onions have the right of way when it comes to irrigation water –
so they will be fine. Other crops are likely to suffer this summer. I have all three colors planted and expect to start irrigation on them in the next week.”
Vidalia:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, WA, told us recently that the Vidalia crop is coming along nicely. “We have reports that our Vidalia growers crop looks good and is on track,” he said. “Growing weather has been good, and it looks like it should be a normal year for Vidalia. We’ll get started in April with Georgia Sweets before the official state of the Vidalia season.”
Imperial Valley, CA:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported from his office in Salem, OR, in early March. “Recently we had experienced some cooler nights, but it hasn’t affected the onion quality, and overall we have had outstanding growing weather this season,” he said. We are still on track for an April 15 start date, and while most years we start up with yellows, it looks like we’ll get going with reds, followed by yellows. Everything looks good to go, and we expect to have a great season in the desert.” Many thanks to John for providing recent photos of Troy Caston Farms’ Imperial Valley crop, and for sending along a field photo from Mike Smythe of Heger Farms organics.
