Featured image: Vidalia, GA onions, photo courtesy of Danny Ray with Ray Farms LLC in Glennville
MARKET
Tampico, Mexico:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said on March 22 one of his Mexican sheds had finished earlier in the week, and “the other will be finished the middle of next week.” Until the last shed finishes for the season, Don Ed said he will still have all three colors and all sizes.
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, told us on March 22 he will be wrapping up the Tampico deal “in a couple of days.” Onions out of the region have been good quality and good size, but David said, “We saw what the lowest prices in a long time were.”
Peru/Mexico/Texas/Northwest:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, WA, told us on March 22 that his company is still shipping hybrids out of the Northwest. “We are still going strong with good availability of our hybrids out of the Northwest,” he said. “Our quality is very good, and we have had no issues to speak of. We are shipping yellows, reds and whites in all sizes. Now, there is limited availability of giant onions, but we have enough to meet our customers’ needs.” Dan continued, “Here in about three weeks we will be pulling most of our whites out of Mexico.” Dan shared information on the company’s sweet program and onions being shipped from the southern regions. “We are still shipping out of Peru and will be until the end of the month,” he said. “It’s been a very good Peruvian onion season for Keystone. The market was firm, and the onion quality has been outstanding! Now we are shipping sweets out of Mexico and Texas, and the quality is equally as great. We are deep into the Mexican product now, and we are shipping all three colors and shipping Mexico into April and Texas into May.” He added, “Vidalia has announced their start date, and prior their start-up, we anticipate shipping Georgia Sweets, and then we’ll ramp up to ship Vidalias beginning April 17.”
Texas/Washington/Idaho-E. Oregon:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 22 that his company is still shipping out of the Treasure Valley and Washington. “We will be shipping out of Nyssa shed for the next week,” he said. “Our Washington operation will go into April, but we have started shipping out of Texas. We started with yellows out of Texas, and we will add reds on Friday and whites a week later. Quality has been great in all areas, so we are pleased about that.” Jason added, “Demand has been good this week, and buyers are looking for jumbo yellows and reds. There isn’t a huge demand for whites this week.” On the market, Jason said, it’s getting pushed down. “The market has been adjusting downward,” he said. “With more and more Treasure Valley shippers finishing, it doesn’t make sense, and it is not at all good for our growers. The Texas market is not where it should be either. With the increased volume crossing from Mexico at lower pricing, it is pushing down prices for U.S. product, and that isn’t helping the Texas growers. The scenario could be better.” He continued, “On the other hand, transportation has been running smoothly. We are getting the trucks we need, and I’m getting plenty of truck brokers calling me, so that tells me that truck availability must be pretty good.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Paul Reeping with Riverfront Produce in Payette, ID, told us on March 22 that Riverfront has been busy this week. “Buyers are looking for quality onions,” Paul said. “Basically, they are looking for onions they won’t have any trouble with, and they still want Treasure Valley onions of good quality. Our quality is still very good, so we have good movement. Jumbo yellows are a hot ticket, and buyers are also looking for smaller onions as well. With a good supply of good quality onions, for us, the market seems to have firmed up, so we are in good shape.” He added, “Transportation looks good as well. There is no problem getting trucks at all.”
Organic Onions:
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading in Portland reported in on March 22 to say demand this week is “steady and usual for March, and we’re looking for it to pick up.” He told us, “Reds seem to be getting a little shorter in supply so there was a run on them last week. Sheds buying from other sheds to fulfill commitments.” When asked about the current market, Brad said, “Market on reds will be going up. Yellow market will remain until May I believe. There are plenty out there. White market is steady.” He added, “The market on the red onions is the only change I see. Sheds looked in their storages and realized they had less than they thought.” Brad said quality is good, noting there are some “normal late season issues, but the packing shed are getting them out.” He also said there are “plenty of NW trucks at decent prices.”
CROP
Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco told us on March 22 he hasn’t clipped any RGV onions yet. As other shipping areas wind down, Don Ed said the market will respond. The Texas crop, he noted, looks good, and he added, “We’ll probably start up in another week or 10 days. People are thinking the market will solidify, but it hasn’t quite yet. We’ve had an increase in supply but not a commensurate increase in demand.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen said on March 22 he will start running Texas onions this weekend or Monday, and by the end of next week he’ll have all colors and sizes out of the RGV. “It looks like a normal crop for us,” he said, adding there’s “nothing particularly large or small” size-wise. “Our yields also look like a normal crop,” he said.
Vidalia:
Danny Ray with Ray Farms LLC in Glennville provided his report on March 22. “We had a little cold snap this past week, but it’s expected to be back up into the 80s, so the crop should be getting more sizing and finishing up well for the start of the season,” he said. “We are excited to get going, and we think it will be a great season! The photos I sent in were from a week ago, and the onions look good, but they have even grown since then. We anticipate that we will be close to last year’s crop.” When asked if the company would sell Georgia Sweets before the official Vidalia start date, Danny told us he would sell Georgia Sweets if his customers needed them. “We may hold off until the official April 17 Vidalia start date, but if I have customers that need Georgia Sweets beforehand, I might be able to accommodate them.” Danny also shared the shipping schedule. “We’ll get going with our yellow Vidalias on April 17, and then around May 1 well add our reds, which is how it works out about every year.” Many thanks to Danny for sending in recent photos. Click on images to enlarge and scroll.
Colorado Western Slope/Corinne, UT:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 20 that John Harold, his Olathe grower, is “getting seed together and should be planting very soon.” He also said his Corinne growers are looking to start planting this weekend.
Colorado Western Slope:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on March 22 his Delta, CO, growers still haven’t been able to get into the fields to plant. Weather that has hit California has tracked across the West and has kept the Western Slope farmers from planting. “They’re hoping to get in there next week,” David said.
Colorado Lower Arkansas Valley:
Zach Mason with Zach Mason Farm in Fowler told us on March 23 he’s looking forward to planting. “I’m hoping to get started planting next week,” he said. “We have wind gusts up to 70 mph here today, so I’m glad the seed is still in the barn.” Zach added, “Our snowpack finally crawled up over 100% of average in just the last couple days, so it looks like we should be in good shape for water this season.”
Walla Walla, WA:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla told us on March 22 that growers are planting transplants this week. “Growers have begun putting transplants in the ground this week,” he said. “This is right on schedule with timing for previous years planting, so we are in good shape so far with our Walla Walla Sweet program.”
Washington:
Tiffany Cruickshank with Onions 52’s Vale, OR, office told us on March 22 that Hartley Produce, O52’s grower in Prosser, is planting now. She said in addition to the enthusiasm that comes with a new season, the O52 team is excited about Viva Fresh next week in Dallas. You’ll find Tiff and others in Booth 505 at the show. And our thanks to Tiffany for providing the shots of Hartley Produce folks in the fields. Click on images to enlarge and scroll.
California Imperial and Central Valleys:
Steve Gill with Gills Onions in Oxnard was in the operation’s Brawley fields on March 20, and Megan Jacobson reported to us on March 20, “We are on track for starting our 2023 harvest mid-April. A few more weeks of sunshine and growth, and we’ll be ready!” Megan also told us the Central Valley onions are growing well, and those fields will be harvested in summertime. Our thanks for the great photo of Steve in Brawley courtesy of Gills Onions. Bakersfield/Arvin California photos courtesy of Jose Cardona, Rio Farm. Click on images to enlarge and scroll.
