MARKET UPDATE
North Carolina:
Jake Jurney with L&M Co. told us on May 15 that L&M will start its North Carolina shipments at the end of this week. “We just received some NC crop photos, and the onions look great,” he said. “We have really nice quality and will be shipping mediums to jumbos out of that region. We will start our shipments at the end of this week.”
Vidalia:
Danny Ray with Ray Farms, Inc. in Glennville reported on May 15 that things are going well with their Vidalia crop. “We are shipping Georgia Sweet Reds along with our Vidalias and demand has been very good,” Danny said. “Customers are responding well so it looks like we may have a better season than in the past couple of years. Quality is looking good and the sizing has turned out well. We are shipping all sizes and colossals too. Our storages are about full and just about everyone in the region should be finished up in the field this week.”
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla, WA told us on May 15 that things in Vidalia are moving very fast. “For us, the Vidalia crop results have been very encouraging,” Dan said. “With the early weather issues, there were some concerns, but the quality has been above our expectations. Demand has been pretty good too. We have been busy every week since the start. Pricing is good as well, between $20 and $22. It looks like storages will be getting filled a little ahead of normal, which is the case for most sheds in the area.”
Northern Colorado:
John Harris with Paradigm Fresh noted on Monday, May 13, that there was “lots of action this morning.” He said, “The Texas Rio Grande Valley will be starting to wrap things up this week with volume dwindling. The Winter Garden district in west central Texas is firing up this week. SoCal is hitting on all cylinders and some new areas of Mexico and crossing now as well. The market is stabling with prices settling in in all areas. Overall quality has been pretty good for new crop onions.” On Wednesday, May 15, John reported there was “more of the same today.” He continued, “Lots of shipping areas with onions. Every shed seems to have some different offerings. Bottom line is there seems to be plenty of everything in most shipping districts.” John added, “Reefers are tight in California, but there seems to be a decent amount of flats for those of you that can use them. We have onions in Fort Morgan along with a little pack time left this week.”
Texas Rio Grande Valley/Mexico:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco told us on May 15 he was “basically done in Texas.” He said, “We will get it run out the end of this week or on Monday, but we’re basically sold out of jumbos.” Don Ed noted The Onion House will continue to bring whites out of Chihuahua until mid- to late June.”
Mexico:
James Johnson with Carzalia Valley Produce in Columbus, NM, said he’s packing onions out of Chihuahua, Mexico, and will continue to bring them up through June as the New Mexico season gets rolling.
Southern California:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing reported from his sales office in Walla Walla, WA this week, saying, “We are finished up with our Texas and Mexican onions and have now transitioned to Southern California. Despite some challenges, our Mexican deal turned out much better than expected. Now, we are shipping out of Southern California, and things are going well. The movement has been good and the weather has been really nice. When it comes to the California desert, there is always a concern that the heat will get extreme, and that hasn’t been the case.”
Jake Jurney with L&M Co. reported from the L&M sales office in Calipatria this week. “Demand has been steady since we started up here,” he said. “It may have come off just a little, but that’s not to say we aren’t super busy. We are moving large volumes of yellows and reds. The whites have backed off some. It could be that there are quite a few in the pipeline with the prices falling off somewhat. But the reds and yellows are going well, particularly the yellows in large profiles. Quality has been excellent. The summer varieties we are shipping are nice and hard and have great skin.” Jake added, “We will be shipping out of Calipatria through the end of the month with some shipments trickling into the first week of June.”
CROP NEWS
Northern Colorado:
Our friend Bob Sakata with Sakata Farms in Brighton said on May 15 the 2019 crop is “looking very good,” and he said, “All the onions are up now.” Sakata Farms will harvest in late August or early September and ship through late February or early March.
Colorado Western Slope/Utah:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, told us May 15 he’d talked to his growers in Western Colorado and Corinne, UT, and both areas are “coming along nicely.” He said, “They need some warm weather, but the crops are doing well.”
New Mexico:
James Johnson with Carzalia Valley Produce in Columbus said on May 15 he was two weeks from harvest of the 2019 crop. “We’re looking at a June 1 start of harvest,” he said. A cooler spring has slowed the crop, and James noted, “We had five days in the 70s, and we’ve had lows in the upper 40s. Things are not moving as fast as anticipated. We’re dealing with the same situation that Texas saw.” He said the season is still expected to finish around Aug. 15. Many thanks to James for this week’s featured image of his New Mexico crop.
Walla Walla:
Dan Borer with Keystone Fruit Marketing in Walla Walla reports that the Walla Walla crop is looking “beautiful,” adding, “I was out in the fields two weeks ago and shot some photos (shown here) and the difference between then and now is amazing. Just in the last two weeks, the onions are starting to bulb and are about at golf ball size. The recent nice weather has definitely been a contributing factor. We anticipate a normal start time this season, sometime in late June.” Dan also noted that Keystone’s growers have completed their spring planting, and everything is 100 percent in the ground and doing well.
