MARKET
Wisconsin:
Doug Bulgrin with Gumz Farms in Endeavor, WI, told us at the end of last week that movement for Gumz has been good. “We have a good crop and will have good availability into May,” he said. Doug also weighed in as the new president of NOA. “I wanted to take this opportunity to speak to our growers about marketing moving forward. The new NOA crop report is expected out, and we also have USDA statistics to reply on for making our decisions. I feel that growers should be making smart decisions about marketing by using facts and not rumors or hearsay.” Doug continued, “When it comes right down to it, if the market is bad, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We don’t have to take low pricing just because we ‘hear’ pricing should be lower. And when it comes to new crop coming in from Mexico, this is no surprise. It’s normal that new crop comes in.” Also, he said, “Movement from the South and where that product goes has a lot to do with freight, so when storage growers and shippers are working through the balance of their crop, they need to remember this. Knowing there is room for these onions, we all need to market accordingly.”
Tamaulipas, Mexico:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us on March 4, “Everything is moving well out of Mexico.” He said, “Business the last 10 days or so has been above average, and we’re rolling along.” The Onion House is moving all sizes and colors out of the Tampico area, and Don Ed said, “We also got our first loads of flats out of Tampico. We’ll have them for about three weeks, and we’ll continue shipping the rounds until early April.” Don Ed continued, “Prices are stable, and we’re seeing great volume and quality out of Mexico. The onions are a real value right now.”
Mike Davis with Tex-Mex Sales in Mission, TX, said the Mexico deal will continue through March, and he said pricing has been a bit flat lately. “It should get better this week,” he said, adding, “The market in general has been kind of depressed. Lighter demand has put pressure on the guys in the Northwest, and there’s a lot of competition for sweet onions out of Mexico.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in Mission said on March 4, “Overall movement this week has really picked up. The market is not stronger, but movement has been good. And weather continues to cooperate in both Mexico and Texas.” David said Southwest Onion Growers’ Mexico deal will start to wind up “starting next week, and we should be done by the end of the third week.”
Texas Rio Grande Valley:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in Mission said on March 4 he’ll start moving onions from the Rio Grande Valley “in the next day or two.” He said, “We’ll have those 1015s for a week or 10 days and then have the full mix.” David said his deal “is starting a little early, but the next growing area [Wintergarden] is not early, so we’ll catch up.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Chris Woo with Owyhee Produce in Nyssa, OR, and Parma, ID, said on March 4 that Owyhee Produce is “still offering adequate production and volume of quality on all colors and sizes at reasonable pricing.” He added, “Most packing sheds will be finishing up shortly here in March with a few sheds going into April. Present onion demand is decent with program business at prearranged pricing. Transportation offerings are more than adequate.”
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, weighed in on March 4 to say, “Demand has been fair this week. Our business is probably down 15-20 percent from two weeks ago.” He went on to say, “We are seeing increased demand for super colossals and colossals this week. Some of the long-term varieties that are coming out of storage have a smaller size profile.” The market, Steve said, “continues to have pressure on it since the industry started its slide downward a few weeks ago. Most people you talk to mention the pressure is coming from new crop. I went back last year vs this year’s shipments from Mexico. From Feb. 25, 2019, to March 1, 2019 315 loads crossed from Mexico. This year February 25, 2020 to March 1, 2020, with one extra day for Leap Year, 301 loads came across. Again, it looks like another example of perception and psychology driving things downward.” He said, “Seems like to me the slide in the market is a self- inflicted wound by the suppliers in the industry.” Regarding availability and quality, Steve said, “We have good availability on yellows except for super colossals. We have good supplies on reds. We have very limited supplies on whites. Quality has been very good.” And he said, “We aren’t having any issues getting transportation for our needs.”
Idaho-E. Oregon/Washington:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce reported on March 4 from his Nyssa, OR, office. “Demand has been steady for us,” Jason said. “We are moving primarily yellows and reds, but we do have a few orders for whites too. Unfortunately, the market has been on a steady decline, but honestly, it should be higher. The new crop from Texas and Mexico has affected the market, and there are some storage onion people that are looking to move the rest of their onions to get finished up. But like I said, really the market should be much higher, particularly since our quality has been so good. Thankfully, our customers are sticking with us, and we anticipate shipping our Northwest onions through the middle or end of April.” Jason added that transportation is good now, saying, “It’s been pretty easy to get the trucks we need.” When asked about the impact of the Coronavirus, Jason said, “Well, we do have good demand so that’s good, but we have been hearing that there is an inflated scare that is affecting some restaurant business, and consumers are staying home. Again, demand is good and this is just what we are hearing.”
CROP
Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Mike Davis with Tex-Mex Sales in Mission said on March 4 he’ll start S. Texas onions the third week of March, adding the crop “looks beautiful.”
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco said on March 4 he was “still 10 days away from clipping, and onions will be available on March 20, which is a little more timely for the deal.”
Texas Wintergarden:
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in Wintergarden said that region’s crop is “looking very good and progressing normally with good temperatures,” and he said the onions are “right on time for a normal May-June harvest.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Chris Woo with Owyhee Produce in Parma, ID, and Nyssa, OR, said on March 4, “Growers are planting seeded onions in a timely fashion more on schedule this year than last year. Snowpack used for irrigation I’ve been told is adequate for this upcoming season.”
