Featured image: Nowell Borders Texas Rio Grande Valley crop progress, photo courtesy of David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX
MARKET
Mexico/Texas Rio Grande Valley:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said on March 5 that he is now shipping Tampico onions. “The yellow deal is real strong,” he noted, adding that the white deal is “intense.” He said whites had hit and surpassed the $50 mark, but he went on to say, “The white market will stabilize in the next week to 10 days.” Reds, he said, will start shipping next week. In Texas the crop is “still looking good, and we should be going March 20-22.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, told us on March 6 the Tampico deal has kicked off. “Crossing limited quantities of all three colors onions from Mexico,” David said. “The volume about 25 percent of normal, and demand very strong.” David added, “Texas is maturing on typical schedule, and we expect to be shipping by late March.” Our thanks to David and Nowell Border Farms for the great Rio Grande Valley onion photos!
Idaho-E. Oregon/Washington:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on March 6, “Demand is decent this week,” Jason said, “Reds have gotten a lot tighter, so buyers are looking for those. All sizes of yellows are moving with the priority on jumbos and mediums.” Jason commented on the market. “There are whites crossing from Mexico, but it hasn’t had any effect on the market and it’s remained steady which is great for our growers.” On transportation, Jason said, “Transportation is good. Trucks are available.” He concluded is report saying, “We expect a smooth transition to our new crop areas. Looking to get going with Texas in a couple of weeks and starting California in late April.”
Idaho-E. Oregon
Chris Woo provided an update on Treasure Valley on March 6. “Some of the smaller sheds have finished for the season,” Chris said. “As we proceed into March will get more sheds dropping off the radar charts. What onions are left to pack and ship are mostly reds and yellows; most of them are being saved for outbound previously fixed committed pricing. Not many supplies are left for the open fresh market. And what is going into the bag remains in good shape.” He continued, “Recent demand is good, with pricing holding steady. Haven’t felt pressure on any crossings from Mexico in mass quantities so far on reds and yellows, which is keeping our present price structure intact, and customers are still wanting to come this way to use our storage crop, which is a very good sign.” Chris noted progress for planting next season’s crop. “ As an area, we have planted a few onions already for next year’s crop in between our intermittent rain showers and wet snow. So far we have plenty of water to utilize for the summer. We just need to dry out to be able to plant once again another fine crop from Owyhee Produce.”
Idaho/Washington/Oregon/Utah:
Rick Greener with Greener Produce provided his report on March 6. “Utah has wrapped up, so we are shipping out of the Idaho, Washington, and Oregon with some jumbo whites out of Mexico,” Rick said. “Buyers are looking for medium reds and they’re tight. Honestly, I don’t know why the red market isn’t higher.” Rick continued on the market, “The market is strong and now that some of the smaller sheds in the Northwest are finishing up, and others are working to cover commitments, this thing is bound to get nasty pretty quick. We’ll have Texas yellows and a few reds available here in about 10 days to two weeks, so we are happy about that; but there are a lot of Texas onions already committed and due to water issues, their acreage is down too.” Rick continued, “The only thing you can do is plan ahead and book whatever you can as early as you can.” Finally, Rick added, “Don’t forget, we can help out with Cipollini’s and pearls, so come and get ‘em”
Bronx, NY:
Lou Getzelman with Canyon Sales Co. on the Hunts Point Market told us on March 6, “Onions seem like they’re holding up, we’re still at levels where shippers are happy,” Lou said. “Supplies are certainly dwindling down, some sheds in Idaho will be done by the end of the week, but I would say demand back east is moderate at best. We’re still shipping onions out of Idaho, Washington, New York and now seeing Mexican onions in the market, by the end of this week all colors will be available out of Mexico, with white onions being the most popular item.” He continued, “FOBs out of Mexico are starting off high, and typically buyers here give preference to a shelled up storage onion over a new crop Mexican onion. I don’t expect to see many reds and yellows landing here in NY at the prices I am seeing on quote sheets. We’re still getting great quality out of Idaho from our partners, and we’ll be shipping onions from Idaho hopefully into May before we start up out West. On the retail front, yellow packages continued to climb, while red onions packages have come off a touch.” On transportation, Lou said, “Trucks have continued to be relatively easy, while the rail has experienced slightly less hiccups than it did in January.”
CROP
Vidalia, GA:
Danny Ray with Ray Farms Inc. in Glennville, GA, told us on March 6 that his family’s Vidalia crop is progressing well. “We’ve had some nice warm weather, so the onions are coming right along,” Danny said. “We should be good to go with our Vidalias by the April 17 start date that has just been announced. In past years, we have started up a little early with Georgia Sweets, but we won’t do it unless we have good maturity on the onions for our customers.” Danny ended his report with a comment on the family operation’s red onions. “We’ll start with our red program May 1st, and everything looks good there too. Many thanks to Danny for sending recent photos of his Vidalia crop. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
Cliff Riner with G&R Farms in Glennville, GA, provided his report on March 6 saying, “The crop continues to move along, it’s definitely picking up some steam, but generally has been slow and steady throughout the season. We continue to get rain every once in a while, almost at the time we go to irrigate, it rains, some places we still supplement.” He continued, “The extended forecast is warming up, but nothing too warm yet to cause any kind of issues. We are all anxiously awaiting this crop, as the volume situation everywhere you turn seems to be tight. However, our crop isn’t made yet and there is still a lot of weather impacts that could really hurt us. It will be interesting to see how and when our crop matures, I personally think we will mature at an average/normal digging timeframe, but there seems to be more conversation about the crop being ahead. Personally, when I look at the weather data, and the tools I track growth with, I think we are spot on. The Vidalia packing date was set to April 17th, I think the advisory panel got it right, there maybe some Georgia sweet volume before that date, but not as much as folks think.” Cliff concluded his report, saying, “Everyone feels good about the way the tops look, and we feel the same way so far. We are all in need of a good crop with this market potential.”
