Featured image: Troy Caston Farms’ red onion, photo courtesy of John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms
MARKET
Washington:
Trent Faulkner with L&M Companies reported in this week from his Raleigh, NC, sales office. “Demand has been steady this week,” he said. “We are finding that there isn’t a lot of volume coming across the border from Mexico to impact our Warden, WA, sales, and buyers are showing a preference for American product if it’s available. Though Texas is shipping, they haven’t had enough volume to curtail our sales. Though we are out of whites, we are selling out of reds and yellows every week.” He continued, “The market is very good too. It’s strong and steady now, and while there may be a few deals going on down south to jumpstart the new crop, it’s nothing significant, and the market as a whole isn’t coming off.” Trent said the transition to L&M’s Calipatria, CA, program should go well. “We may have a little rocky time with the reds, but the transition should be a smooth one when we transition from Warden to California April 20.”
Larry Bauman with Target Ag Production and L&L Ag in Connell/Pasco told us on March 15, “We are very thankful for the crop that was produced in 2021! Though it is off in yield, it has stored very well and yielded out of storage close to our projections made last fall. The remaining crop looks like it will fill our contract obligations, ending within our normal time frame.” Larry went on to say, “We want to thank our customers for working with us to extend the supply through a difficult growing and shipping season. Although it is not unique to farming, there is always a promise of a new year and crop. We all face many challenges this year, but due to the very cold temperatures, with no snow, there should not be a problem with volunteer potatoes in the Columbia Basin. We must remember that due to a smaller crop our ROI was much appreciated and we need to keep an eye on our production acres being planted to maintain better prices this year.” And he closed by saying, “Our hearts and prayers go out to the people in FREE Europe, some with an unnecessary war going on and some accepting women and children fleeing from the conflict. We all need to respect the resolve for freedom that is being exhibited to the world by the Ukraine people.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, told us on March 15, that demand has been fair this week, and he said, “Right now jumbo yellows are the biggest mover naturally. Jumbo reds, colossal yellows, and medium yellows seem to be the items hardest to find.” Steve added, “The market is steady on all sizes and colors, and quality has been good.” Looking at transportation, he said, “We have been able to get the transportation we need on trucks. With the big increase on fuel price we are seeing sizeable increase on freight rates to all areas.” Steve said he expects to finish up 2021-22 the last week of March, and he looked ahead to the ’22 crop. “There are growers who have started to plant. We are getting a much-needed rainstorm this morning. This is a very welcome sight,” he said.
Chris Woo with Owyhee Produce in Nyssa, OR, and Parma, ID, gave us a report on March 17. “There’ s more pressure this week on crossings from Mexico,” he said. “How long would that last is anyone’s guess.” He said in the Treasure Valley that “sheds with storage varieties left will finish in the next couple of weeks, with a few sheds out of cold storage pull to dribble into April.” And, Chris said, “Demand and pull remain steady as well as market pricing this week.”
Mexico and Texas:
Mike Davis with Tex-Mex Sales LLC in Weslaco, TX, provided an update on his Mexico and Texas shipments this week. “Demand is off a little this week, but the market is still very good,” he said. “We are shipping out of Mexico, but you know we really aren’t getting a whole lot of onions from Mexico. I think Tampico had some water shortages that probably affected the crop and with size more than anything.” About his home state, Mike said, “We started shipping our Texas crop, and we are packaging cartons with Texas Sweet 1015s. In the next couple of weeks, we’ll be shipping more volume and we’ll be into more fields with more variety. Regardless of the year or the price, our goal is to raise a quality crop.” Going forward, Mike said, he expects the market for Texas onions to continue to increase. “We’ll just have to see what happens when Idaho/Oregon starts winding down,” he said. “But overall we are in a good place this season.”
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 17, “We’re rollin’ – busy, busy. Mexico is going pretty good now, and we’ll have better volume for three weeks and then transition to Texas. Mexico has all three colors, and sizes are good.” He went on to say, “The movement is better this weekend. The market caught, and more people are switching in.” He said The Onion House is still on track for an April 1-5 start for the Rio Grande Valley, and he said, “The onions have good size, and we’ll have all three colors.”
CROP
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Chris Woo with Owyhee Produce in Nyssa, OR, and Parma, ID, told us on March 17, “Onion planting has commenced in Idaho on the ground where water is supplied by pumps. The bulk of planting that use canal water is not started yet since water is not being delivered for the moment. Onions that have been planted were also helped in germination by intermittent showers this week.”
Utah/Colorado:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 17 his Utah and Colorado growers are getting their seed together, and he said, “Everyone is lining up for 2022.”
California:
Robert Bell with Western Onion in Camarillo updated us on March 17, saying he had spent a week in Brooks Oregon cutting onions to select single centers for a new onion breeding program in the United States.
“In Brooks, we’re working on two new hybrid reds that we have already developed but need to refine. We want to produce locally to perform better in the Northwest,” he said. “We have been growing them at the OSU Malheur facility in the Treasure Valley for the last four years as transplants and some direct seed. We’re trying to improve the size and single centers, as well as draw the onions more toward long day rather than late intermediate.”
California – Imperial Valley
Many thanks to John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms for sending beautiful California-Imperial Valley crop photos for Troy Caston Farms.
