Featured image: West Valley Packing, yellow onion line photo courtesy of John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms, currently on assignment in the Imperial Valley
MARKET
Organic Onions
Brad Sumner with Pacific Coast Trading Co. in Portland provided his report on May 29. “Organic onion market is hot and is staying hot.” Brad said. “Especially reds, as our next block of Organic red onions sat in 119-degree temperatures right before harvest in Mexico. Cooked them. Record temperatures for that area ever. We cannot catch a break! White organic onions are plentiful right now and of good quality.” He continued, “Yellows are a little tougher to get than last week, especially medium size, but they are there if you shop it. Vidalia Organics are cruising along at the predicted pace and price.” He noted, “Our Baja Organic Onion crop will come off starting at the end of next week with whites, yellows, and reds right on top of each other. Quality to this point is really good. I cannot wait to get my hands on them. I have attached a few pictures. Have a great final week of May. Summertime is here!” Many thanks to Brad for sending in crop progress photos this week. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
Imperial Valley, CA:
OnionBusiness.com caught up with John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms in Salem, OR, on May 29, while he was on assignment in the Imperial Valley selling onions this week. “Demand is very good this week,” Jason said, “The Northwest is pretty much cleaned up while waiting a few weeks to get started with their overwinters. It looks like New Mexico is up and going. I’ve received a few quotes. We still have about three to four weeks here in the Imperial Valley. We still have plenty of availability. The Five Points/Fresno area will get going next week.” When asked about the market, John said, “The market has been good all along this season, and it’s still good. It’s not the typical Imperial Valley season, where we started low and money was lost. Everyone has been playing fair this time. Of course, reds have a strong market. Yellows are doing good in the teens and whites are decent. No one picked up their ball this season and went home,” John laughed. “Getting trucks is fine too. We had fifteen show up on Monday for the holiday, and we had 35 the following day, and we have a slew of trucks today, so freight’s easy this week.” Many thanks to John for sending in packing photos this week. Click images to enlarge and scroll.
New Mexico/California/Vidalia, GA:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, told us on May 29 “Demand is good for all colors and sizes this week,” Jason said, “Any onions that customers had pre-Memorial Day got cleaned up, and now everyone is back in restocking this week. We are shipping out of Georgia, New Mexico, and California. We started New Mexico last week, and they are in full swing with all three colors. Quality of shipments is good out of all areas.” On the market, Jason run it down by color. Reds are holding steady, but we have seen some fluctuation on the yellow and white market due to the current volume of Mexican onions crossing.” When asked about the transportation, Jason said, “It’s expensive, but you can definitely get a truck.” And finally, he added, “Things are looking good in the Northwest crop-wise. We are experiencing typical spring weather, and everything looks good as we head into summer.”
California/Mexico/Arizona:
Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum, on May 29. “Demand is good this week,” Rick said. “We’re shipping out of Arizona, California, and Chihuahua, Mexico. Reds are still tight. Medium and prepack yellows are tight too. The market seems strong and steady on yellow jumbos and colossal,s but it is all over the board on whites. I think this has a lot to do with quality. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. This is a true statement when it comes to whites. Transportation seems pretty easy right now. There are a lot of people loading Conestoga’s and reefers right now. If your loading a flatbed, PLEASE know how to run a tarp!” Rick ends his report by saying, “We have shallots, Cipollinis, and pearls, so come on, load up!” Then he added, “If you read the report a couple of weeks ago and saw that Chuck at Onion House had these, sorry (OnionBusiness.com’s error-yes, we take the blame…), call us instead. Wink. Wink.”
Vidalia, GA:
Danny Ray with Ray Farms Inc. in Glennville, GA, told us on May 29 that his finished harvest last week. “We finished harvesting our storages are full,” Danny said. “That’s one battle won. With what we have now, we might be able to go through Labor Day, but all that depends on demand.” Danny continued. “The market has been steady and sales have been real good. So far, we’ve had a nice season and we pray that continues.”
CROP
Idaho-E. Oregon
Jared Zito with Zito Farms in Glenns Ferry, Idaho, provided us with his family farm’s update on May 29, saying, “At this point, the crop is progressing vigorously due to warmer temperatures. The stand seems to be satisfactory considering the cold and very windy spring we’ve experienced.” Jared continued, “Our team is looking forward to start harvesting the first week of August.” Many thanks to Jared for the great crop photos this week! Click the images to enlarge and scroll.
