Featured image: Calipatria, CA crop, photo courtesy of Matt Murphy with L&M Companies
MARKET
Mexico/Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said on March 13 volume has picked up out of Tampico. “We’re starting to pick up on volume on yellows, whites and reds,” he said. “And because there hasn’t been any rain down there, the quality is just outstanding.” Don Ed also commented on the Rio Grande Valley season, noting the onions are “taking a little longer to get ready.” He said the start date will be the week of March 25.
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, reported in on March 13 and told us, “Volume is increasing out of Tampico. Essentially, all the growers/shippers down there are going now. There are a few already starting to wind up and others just getting started. Many are at their peak production right now. This is the normal seasonal increase that we anticipate.” David added, “A little bit of Texas stuff is going on, but we won’t start until April 1, most likely.” And he noted, “For now, transportation has been plentiful.”
Idaho-E. Oregon
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, told us on March 13, saying, “Demand has been good this week,” Steve said. “Our core customer base wants to stay with us until we finish.” When asked about availability, Steve noted, “Super Colossals & Red onions are tight, especially medium reds.” Regarding the market, Steve commented, “With smaller Northwest sheds finishing, has that had any impact on the market? The onion market remains strong, with a slight increase in pricing for Colossals and Super Colossals. Red pricing is also trending higher this week. With some sheds finishing up, their customers are looking to get covered out of the Northwest by other shippers.” On transportation, Steve noted, “Trucks seem to be plentiful for our needs this week.”
Idaho-E. Oregon/Washington:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms in Salem, OR, told us on March 13, saying, “Demand is still very good,” Jason said, “White pricing has gone down a bit, but there isn’t enough Mexican onions crossing to impact the domestic market at all. Every week that Mexico doesn’t cross with big volumes just puts more pressure on the Northwest. Customers are staying with Northwest sheds that are shipping, which is great for American growers. Honestly, gone are the 5,6, and 7-dollar markets. There isn’t a grower out there who can make a livin’ on that. It’s just too bad that it has to be a crop failure or some weather problem that lifts these prices, but it’s been good nonetheless. Canada was a great customer this year. Korea pulled a fair amount. Japan and Taiwan were buying like they do, but they were consistent buyers and that’s good. It seems like New York still pulls a good amount of Northwest product too. It’s just been a very good setup for the market, and it’s been good all along. Right now, buyers are looking yellows, medium, and jumbos seem to be moving well.” John added, “Moving forward, we’ll still see Mexico coming, Texas has a good crop, and New Zealand will be coming too, but we’ll have to see what happens when we get into May and June. You know a lot of stuff is contracted. When it comes to getting onions, loyalty matters.”
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 13, “Demand’s been decent,” Jason said, “Reds have gotten a lot tighter, Jason noted, “The pull for yellows is normal and the market has been steady. Mexico crossings haven’t had much of an impact on the market. Although the white market has dipped a little.” Jason added, “We are looking at a smooth transition when we get going with our Texas program. We are starting shipping flats out of Texas now, and next week, we will have globe yellows and reds. Whites will follow. Our California crop is coming along great as well.”
Washington
This week, we caught up with Matt Murphy with L&M Cos. in Raleigh, NC, back from SEPC and on the sales desk. “The SEPC show is always a great show for us,” Matt said. “We see our customers, and the networking is awesome.” Matt offered his report on L&M’s Warden, WA sales and a look ahead. “Demand is good this week,” Matt said. “We’ve been sold out every day, and it looks like we’ll go until April 30, which will be perfect for a seamless transition to our Calipatria, CA program.” Matt commented on the market, saying, “The market has been steady, and as far as Mexico crossings go, we aren’t seeing any impact. Whites have come off a little, but we aren’t really affected by it, so we keep plugging along.” Finally, Matt offered his take on transportation. “Oh, transportation is easy. No worries there.”
Idaho/Washington/Oregon:
This week, Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum, ID, provided his report on March 13, saying, “Demand is good this week,“ Rick said. “We are shipping out of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon, with a few jumbo yellows and primarily whites coming through Texas from Mexico. Reds are getting snug and tighter every week. Buyers seem to be looking for yellows in the larger sizes: jumbos and colossal.” On the market, Rick commented, “The market is holding steady. Mexico isn’t crossing with enough volume to affect the domestic market, and the pricing of Mexican onions is random. It pretty much depends on skin set size and quality. It will be interesting moving forward, and it will surprise me if there isn’t a market increase. More NW sheds are trying to wrap up, Mexico volumes aren’t coming like we anticipated.” He added, “We will have Texas onions next week, so come and get ‘em.” Finally, on freight, Rick commented, “Trucks are still easy. No issues there. We’re good to go.”
Organic Onions
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading Co. in Portland provided his report on March 14. “Welcome to the second week of March 2024 and who knows what is going to happen in the organic onion world,” Brad said. “Demand continues steady, now it is a matter of filling the orders. The once scared organic white onions supply has begun to increase slowly and creating some settling off of OG white pricing, with a few good deals out there as well. Our latest scarcity is organic reds, harvest gaps due to “forces outside of our control”, have created a bit of a hole in organic red supply. Committed pricing we had on the OG reds is out the door and the new pricing is much stronger.” He continued, “This creates issues of course with bids and contracts. However, just like the last 2 years and especially the last 5 months we will get through it and figure it out. Yellow organic market, along with the organic sweet market have good supply with both storage crop in the Northwest and New crop out of Mexico and Texas available. Pricing is good and steady there. As we look to move product from Texas to our warehouses in the Northwest, trucks are available, and freight seems reasonable today. More volume out of those areas, of course, will create increases.”
CROP
Calipatria, California
Matt Murphy with L&M Cos. in Raleigh, NC, told us on March 13 that his team is excited about their program in California. “Everything is coming along great in Calipatria. “We expect to start up on April 22, which is perfect timing for our transition out of Washington. Many thanks to Matt for providing our featured image this week, along with additional photos below. Click image to enlarge.
