Featured image: Treasure Valley red onion crop progress, photo by OnionBusiness.com
MARKET
Washington:
John Vlahandreas with Wada Farms reported in from his Salem, OR office on Sept. 7. “We are currently shipping out of Washington, and we haven’t started up shipping out of the Treasure Valley yet,” he said. “Demand is good this week if you can find the onions. Shippers are being pretty selective on where the onions go. Buyers are mostly looking for jumbo yellows, but all sizes and colors are available and moving.” John continued, “The market is holding steady and prices are up there, but we need to be careful. Just around the corner, we’ll have Canada coming in heavier, New York, Michigan and Wisconsin coming in, and then we’ll have to deal with offshore onions on the East Coast.” And, he said, “Marketers need to be mindful not to drop the market. Quality has been great so far, and Washington is making some larger sizes up to colossal. Transportation has been fine, but as I said earlier, I am getting pretty tired of the hundreds of daily truck broker calls.”
Washington/Utah/Idaho-E. Oregon:
Falon Brawley with Onions 52 in Syracuse, UT, provided us with a good update on Sept. 1, noting the company had kicked off its fall season in Washington state and Utah. She said demand for new crop onions has been “exceedingly high, it has been a busy start to the season.” Washington onions were going into storage early this month, and Falon noted, “It is not unlikely for September-harvested onions to ship to stores late into May and even early June.” O 52’s Shawn Hartley also said, “We are encouraged with the crop in the Northwest, including Idaho/Eastern Oregon. It has been a crazy start to the growing season in all areas.” And Tiffany Cruickshank with the company’s newly established Vale, OR, office, said partner sheds in E. Oregon started harvesting in late August and early September. “The crop looks variable due to a dry, cold, and windy spring coupled with multiple heat waves during the growing season. Some fields have certainly fared better than others. We are hopeful the growing conditions will allow the onions to put on a bit more size before harvest takes off.” Falon said the popular tearless Sunions “will begin shipping late fall, no set start date just yet but will likely be late October/early November. We are seeing an increase in demand every year for organic and conventional Sunions.” Click to enlarge photos below.
Idaho-E. Oregon/Washington:
Jason Pearson with Eagle Eye Produce in Nyssa, OR, reported in on Sept. 7 telling us he is “swamped” this week. “For a short week, we have high demand,” he said. “Buyers are looking for all colors and sizes. The market is holding well, but from the marketing side, we all need to remember not to drop our pants and let the prices slide. It’s just not necessary. The demand is there. We have all colors and sizes available, and we have availability on the larger sizes too.” Jason added, “Quality is looking GREAT! We will be shipping green top onions for a while, and I can’t tell you when we will be getting into the storage onions, so I can’t tell you when we will start shipping rail. We don’t start shipping rail until we have storage onions to ship.” As a member of the Malheur County Development Corporation Board, Jason told us how the transload facility is coming along. He noted, “This week the project contractors are laying rail, so things are coming along.” On transportation, Jason said it’s been fairly easy to secure trucks. “Trucks have been easy to get, and we are rockin’ and rollin’, so come and get ‘em!”
Idaho-E. Oregon:
Dwayne Fisher with Champion Produce Sales in Parma, ID, told us on Sept. 7, “We will finally see some relief from the heat tomorrow and not be over 100 degrees. Been a record hot one for sure. That being said we haven’t lifted an acre of onions to cure to this point, and we will be full steam ahead starting tomorrow. After that storage season will be upon us, and our shed crews will make the transition outside to get the crop in.” Dwayne went on to say, “I know for our facilities that after this week packing volumes will decrease substantially, and this market should hold firm. Many customers have asked me about this ‘crazy good market,’ while it is good, when you consider the substantial yield reductions we are experiencing and are going to continue to experience, coupled with our record-setting growing expenses, growers need this plus some! Our tractors keep telling us they have a lot of hours on them, and I keep encouraging them to hold together, that new ones don’t get bought on these yields, even at these prices.” He said, “Transportation so far has been steady for us. Again, our main focus now is getting these onions lifted and into the barns. Mother Nature has had a mind of her own this year, so we can’t risk not getting storage rolling in the limited windows she may provide.” And Dwayne said, “In the next few weeks packing and shipping will be secondary and prices should hold solid and perk up even further as we get everything under lock and key.” Many thanks to Dwayne for sharing a recent photo of Chris Tamura and Ben Tamura, owners of Tamura Farms checking out the crop.
Chris Woo told us on Sept. 7, “From here on out growers are making time and effort in starting to harvest this year’s onion crop. After today weather will moderate, making onion shredding and topping and lifting more favorable for onion roots and tops to dry down, helping the bulb color up and cure even more for an eventful presentation.” He added, “Demand is decent, and pricing is as well on all three colors. It’s too early to get a crop projection on yields, but quality I’ve seen coming in is very good to excellent.” Chris went on to say, “With growing, labor and fuel costs getting more expensive, it sure is nice to see a healthy FOB market for once.” He said it helps “alleviate all these additional costs in raising another fine crop of Idaho-E. Oregon onions.”
Joe Farmer with Fort Boise Produce in Parma, ID, said on Sept. 7 the season has gotten off to a very good start. “We’re packing now, and we have good demand,” he said. “We’re moving yellows and reds, and whites will start in another week.” Joe said quality is good, noting, “The onions have good skin, and we have all sizes with supers, colossals, jumbos and mediums.” And Kay Riley with Fort Boise added that demand and the market are “really good now.”
Colorado Western Slope:
Don Ed Holmes with The Onion House in Weslaco, TX, reported on Sept. 7 that his operation had started up on the Western Slope this week. “We are shipping reds and yellows with limited availability,” he said. “Volume will be better next week. Prices are strong, and demand is excellent. All good,” he added. Sizing is “mostly jumbos with some colossals.”
David DeBerry with Southwest Onion Growers in McAllen, TX, said on Sept. 7 shipping in Delta, CO, will start up this weekend with all three colors. David told us weather is good and sizing and yields are “average or better” across the board.
