Featured image: Our thanks to Tiffany Cruickshank with Snake River Produce in Nyssa, OR, for sharing the great photo of the great big onion this week. The shot is from Alexis Payne of 3B Hay & Farm, one of the owner-partners in SRP. “There are a few big onions out there,” Tiffany said. Please send us your photos so they can be featured on OnionBiz.
MARKET
Idaho-Oregon, Washington:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported from his Salem, OR, office on Sept. 1. “We’ve made the transition, and I am selling onions all from the Northwest now,” John said. “Quality has been good, and though there has been an excess of smaller onions here at the start, I think we’ll see more large onion availability as we get further into harvest. I am really happy for the growers in the Willamette Valley. There aren’t too many growers left there, and some years it’s hard to get their harvest done ahead of the rain. This year, the weather has been just beautiful, and it looks like everything is going to run smoothly for them. They’re a great group of growers and they deserve a good year.” On the market, John said pricing is getting better. “Shippers are getting more for the bigger stuff than the smaller onions, but with more people coming on, I thought maybe the prices would have dipped a little – and the market all around is holding pretty well. So I think that’s a good sign for the future,” he said. On transportation, John told us that it seems people are getting used to it. “Maybe everyone is getting used to the higher prices, but the grower cannot keep absorbing the cost on their end,” he said. “There is just no more room. With production costs the way they are, the end-user can’t be the only one that makes the money here. They have to start picking up their share.”
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce reported from his sales office in Nyssa, OR, on Sept. 1. “Well, demand is overwhelming this week!” he said. “Everyone wants everything on sizes from jumbos up. Supers are non-existent, and colossals are tight. Demand is a little light on whites, but red demand is hot,” Jason said, adding, “Quality is very good!” When asked about the market, Jason said, “The market is on the move, but remember now that there is no reason anyone needs to get cheap here. We need to keep this upward trend going. With the quality the way it is and demand the way it is, we need to keep this thing going. There’s just no reason not to.” When asked about transportation, Jason said, “You know, it’s getting a little better because we can get the trucks, and this time of year, we can load flatbeds, which helps.”
Idaho:
Rick Greener with Greener Produce in Ketchum told us on Sept. 1 that demand is very good this week. “A lot of my growers are sold out for the week as of this morning,” he said. “Everything jumbos and larger is really moving. We made the transition out of Cali and New Mexico, and now I am moving onions out of Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Utah.” He continued, “Quality is right on par and looking good. There is a lot of demand for colors. Reds are moving well, and the overall market is strong this week.” He commented, “Seems someone sent out a good supply of suspenders, and they seem to be holding up. Now, we just have to keep it up and keep it on the move.” On the transportation side of things, Rick said, “It’s horrible! Remember, we can get them, but there’s going to be a lead time, and you just have to pay for them. It’s just the way it goes. Other than that, everything is looking good this week.”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Steve Baker with Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, OR, told us on Sept. 1, “Demand has been fairly good this week. We’re definitely seeing more customers coming to the Northwest with a lot of California and New Mexico shippers winding down. Right now and for the foreseeable future colossals and super colossals are in big demand above any other size.” The market, he said, is improving. “I hear things might be looking up for the bigger stuff. The market has come up from last week on yellows and reds. The market on colossals and supers if you can find them definitely jumped higher this week.” And, he said, “Quality has been very nice on all colors.” Transportation, Steve said, “has been adequate this week for what we need.”
New York:
Rick Minkus with Minkus Family Farms in New Hampton told us that harvest has been going well. “We started harvest about a month ago with our transplants, and we just started harvesting our direct-seeded onions,” he said. “We had good growing conditions this season, and our quality is looking good. We’ll be harvesting into October.” The weather forecast includes Ida. “Right now, we are in the path of Ida, and we’ve received about two inches of rain. They said we could get as much as eight inches, so I hope we aren’t harvesting in a boat,” Rick laughed. “I expect we’ll get through it fine, and we should be back out in the fields within a few days. It’s not a huge concern.” He went on to say, “We have plenty of onions in the packing house until we can bring more onions in.” Rick said this week’s demand has been somewhat slow. People are looking for jumbos mostly, he said. “The pressure is starting on the market for mediums. Kansas is coming on, and though Canada hasn’t been a factor until now, they are starting to quote, and they are blowing people out of the water. It’s going to be a real slugfest. And transportation doesn’t help. It’s brutal. We have trucks with no drivers. Then you add the cost of packaging, materials, and the labor shortage – it’s getter tougher and tougher to make it anymore.” The onion vet said, “But we’re sticking with it. No sense in retiring now. What else would I do?”
California Central Valley:
Robert Bell with Western Onion in Camarillo told us on Sept. 1, “We’re starting harvest in Cuyama today, but we were fogged in so we will wait until the sun comes out and the bulbs dry. We’re only 50 miles from the ocean here and at 2,600-ft. elevation and this is typical for this time of year. Sometimes we wait until 10:30.”
CROP
Colorado Western Slope:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said his Western Colorado onion grower is finishing up with the 2021 sweet corn deal and anticipates he’ll start shipping with all colors next week. Don Ed said, “Everyone is looking, screaming, for onions.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said his Colorado Growers are also finishing their sweet corn deal this week. “We expect to ship next Monday. The corn will be finished. Everything is great with the onions. Yields are good, and the bulb size is ¼ to ½ inch bigger than last year so we should be 80 percent jumbos and larger.” He added, “We’ll have all three colors ready to go on day one.” Labor is all H-2A, he said, and transportation is “day by day.” He added, “Loads are getting shipped.”
