Featured image: Vidalia crop progress, photo courtesy of Danny Ray with Ray Farms, Inc. in Glennville, GA
MARKET
Mexico/Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 27 that the Mexico deal has heated up and in fact has already peaked. “We’re swamped,” Don Ed said, adding, “We were real busy last week and are having another big week now. Tampico has probably about another 10 days. There are two or three big growers who are finishing and another couple just getting started, but the area has fewer acres this year, and I think it’s already peaked. It normally would be peaking this week.” Don Ed continued, “Texas is coming into a pretty good deal. We’ll start shipping next Monday with reds and yellows.” He said when Tampico wraps up, Torreón will be starting. “We will have whites out of Torreón.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on March 27 “The Tampico crop for most of us is coming to a close for 2024. We still have all three colors, but we will probably finish shipping from Mexico middle of next week on all colors.” He added, “We will start Texas probably the day after we finish Tampico. As of today, the crop in Texas looks very good, and we will probably stretch this thing out until about 15 May – maybe the 20th.”
Idaho-E. Oregon/Texas:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 27, “Demand is good this week,” Jason said, “We are one of the handful of shippers still going out of the Treasure Valley. We have plenty of yellows, but reds are very tight. It looks like we’ll be going out of our Nyssa, OR shed until the second week of April” Jason continued. “We are shipping out of Texas and going full steam with all three colors and sizes. The market is steady and on the rise for reds.” On transportation, Jason said, “Transportation is good. Trucks are available, so no problems there.”
Idaho-E. Oregon
Chris Woo provided an update on Treasure Valley on March 27. “More sheds have finished for the season with a few more last of the Mohicans are planning to go into April as part of their usual business plan,” Chris said. “Demand remains desirable and there is good quality of remaining supplies of yellows and reds.” He continued, “The market is steady and reds for some reason pricing keeps going up.” Chris noted progress for planting next season’s crop. “Growers are planting slowly but surely in between our periodic sprinkles.”
Paul Reeping with Riverfront Produce in Payette, ID, told us on March 27 that Riverfront’s demand is steady this week. “We have good availability on yellows and red availability on mixer loads. Our quality is very good.” Paul continued, “Demand is steady, and the market is also steady. Reds are tight, so we are seeing some increase there, and due to some uncertainty of the volumes left coming across from Mexico, the market may strengthen. Regarding our supplies, we can’t put a date to finishing up. We’ll just have to see how demand is over the next few weeks.” Finally, Paul commented on transportation. “All is good finding trucks,” Paul said. “No issues there.”
Organic Onions
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading Co. in Portland provided his report on March 27. “It is the tale of two seasons. We are ending the Northwest storage season and ramping up the new crop Mexico/Texas soon to be Ca organic onion deal.” Brad said. “The Northwest Organic onions supply will be down to just a few hands by the end of next week. Demand is good on all colors and Yellow demand has picked up considerably now that fewer sheds have them.” He continued, “The drought of organic reds seems to be getting a little water as we will have more volume available from across the border next week. White demand and price remain good and good. April being right around the corner will open supply in Ca. Most growers are saying that third week in April Organic onions will start out of the Imperial Valley. Early quality is always a challenge, but we shall see.” On transportation, Brad said, “Trucks out of Texas into the Westcoast are not really tight just asking for a little more as more loads become available.” Brad ended his report with, “Happy and Blessed Easter to all!”
Wisconsin:
Doug Bulgrin with Gumz Farms in Endeavor provided his report on March 27. “We are working hard to keep our customers happy and in onions,” Doug said. “We are looking at a May 10 finish, which is very early for us.” Doug continued, “We are good on yellows, but reds are very tight.” Doug also commented on planting. “We are getting everything in the ground and we should be all in by next week.” Doug also commented on his recent trip with the NOA and grower visits to the Vidalia and New Mexico regions. “Our NOA group had great visits and we hope to share to OnionBusiness some details and photos in the near future.”
CROP
Walla Walla:
Michael Locati with Locati Farms and Pacific Agra Farms in Walla Walla said on March 27 all the spring-seeded onions are in, and crews are now into transplants. “We started transplants last week, It’s a rain day here today, which is good. We had a relatively mild winter and an early spring,” Michael said at this point he is looking at a normal season start in early to mid-June. “It all depends on the weather,” he said, noting the current El Niño could change. Acreage remains stable. The Walla Walla Rosés will again make up about 10 percent of the crop. “We continue to develop that market,” Michael said. “So far, so good this year. We just hope the onion market stays up.”
Imperial Valley, California:
Mike Smythe provided an Imperial Valley crop report for West Valley Packing on March 27: “The Onions are sizing up well. We got a run of high 80’s then low 70’s. We are hoping when April comes around, we will see multiple days of 80+ weather.” He continued, “We will try to start yellows around April 17-20 in a light way with all three colors the following week. Organics and conventional onions will start at the same time.” Mike also told OnionBusiness that he plans to have photos and more updates the week of April 8.
Idaho-E. Oregon/California:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 27, “Our growers have started planting in Eastern Oregon, and ideally, we hope to get everything in the ground by mid-April. Our California program looks very good, and we hope to get there on April 22.”
Vidalia, GA:
Danny Ray with Ray Farms Inc. in Glennville, GA, told us on March 27 that his family’s Vidalia crop is progressing well. “The crop is looking very good,” Danny said. “Everything looks like we’ll be ready by the April 17 start date. There might be a possibility to start with some Georgia Sweets beforehand, but I don’t want to do that unless everything is just right.” Many thanks to Danny for sending recent photos of his Vidalia crop. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
