Growers in Washington and Oregon are hoping for continued heavy demand as the 2024 onion harvest gets underway.
In 2023, onion utilized production in the Pacific Northwest was up 6% from the previous year, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. However, the value of utilized production in Oregon was down 24% from the previous year to $171 million. Washington’s value also was down 24% from 2022 to $384 million.
Washington, Oregon and Idaho accounted for 58% of the national utilized onion production.
Washington and Oregon grower-shippers offer a wide selection of onions starting in summer and often continuing until spring or beyond.
Seattle-based F.C. Bloxom Co. will offer Walla Walla sweet onions until Aug. 15 or Aug. 20, said Bryon Magnaghi, who manages the firm’s Walla Walla, Wash., office.
In September, the company will transition to its new crop of yellow, red, white and Washington sweet onions.
“Walla Walla sweets will end, and Washington sweets will begin,” said sales representative Steve Brannan.
Early varieties will be shipped out of the field, but most will go into storage and ship as late as mid-June.
In the past, storage onions would barely last until April, said Bill Bloxom, an owner of the company. New technology and improved seed types have boosted the storage period by about six weeks.
Volume of Walla Walla sweet onions, which are not shipped from storage, likely will be a bit higher this year compared to last year, Bloxom said.
“We’ve got a good-looking crop,” he said.
Prices have been good, too.
“The Walla Walla sweet onion is sort of a limited specialty crop, so overall, we’re able to hold a better price than general sweet onion prices,” he said.
Walla Walla-based Castoldi Family Farm, which will mark its 100th anniversary next year, offers Walla Walla sweet onions, limited volume of red onions and, starting Aug. 15, Candy Winter Sweets, said Nathan Castoldi, a fourth-generation owner and operator of the company.
Candy Winter Sweets are a hybrid Washington sweet onion that comes on when Walla Walla sweet onions end, he said.
The Walla Walla sweets harvest began the first week of June this year, a couple of weeks sooner than usual because of a number of warm days that pushed the onions to get them done a bit earlier, he said.
“Quality has been really good this year,” he added.
Idaho Falls, Idaho-based Eagle Eye Produce has undergone some significant changes to help the firm to better serve its customers, said Joe Ange, director of onion sales.
“We have hired more industry veterans onto our sales team,” he said, including Dillon Duncan, most recently with Owyhee Produce, Parma, Idaho.
Eagle Eye Produce has invested in a state-of-the-art storage facility in Nyssa, Ore., which improves its ability to maintain the quality of its onions for longer periods, he said.
“We have also expanded our production capabilities by partnering with more warehouses,” Ange said. “These strategic partnerships ensure a consistent, year-round supply of onions, enabling us to the meet the increasing demand from our customers.”
The company offers yellow, red and white onions year-round in all pack sizes under its Harvest Select brand.
“We recently started offering shallots, sourced direct from family farms in Eastern Oregon,” he said.
The company will ship its onions out of storage in the Northwest until the beginning of May.
“For the remainder of the season, we rotate through Southern states to ensure a continuous year-round supply for our customers,” Ange said.
Pasco, Wash.-based Basin Gold Cooperative’s harvest of red and yellow onions will start in late July, said Molly Connors, vice president sales and marketing. White onions will start later.
Growing conditions this summer have been similar to last year, she said — a two-to-three-week hot spell hit with temperatures over 100 degrees. Hot weather can affect onion size, yields and harvest date, she said.
Basin Gold will ship onions from early August until mid-to-late May.
“We will ship onions direct from the field as well as send some to storage,” Connors said. “Volume looks to be average, but that could change depending on the duration of the heatwave.”
Onion prices are up from last year, but onion growers still face financial challenges.
Even if growers can charge more for their onions than last year, Castoldi said, “We could always use more with all the price increases.”
Inflation raised prices on a number of inputs as well as the cost of labor, he said. Grower-shippers must pass along those increases, and that’s had an impact on consumers.
“People are still buying onions,” Castoldi said. “They’re just not buying as many at a time.”
Eagle Eye Produce also is dealing with rising labor costs and other price increases, Ange said.
“Inflation continues to pose a challenge, leading to higher production costs,” he said. “We are adapting by looking for efficiencies wherever possible.”
Fuel prices are down this year at F.C. Bloxom, Magnaghi said, but prices of fertilizer, seed and other inputs have increased,
“The cost of labor goes up every year,” he said.
