Onions
New Mexico onion shippers enjoyed a good price year in 2022 compared with 2021, USDA data shows.
Troublesome springtime weather gave way to much-improved conditions during the early summer, enabling a good, on-time start to the East Oregon-Idaho onion harvest, grower-shippers said.
Whether it’s accommodating suggestions from customers or following through with their own initiatives, onion grower-shippers in East Oregon and Idaho say they take sustainability seriously.
Inflation has been a challenge for East Oregon and Idaho onion grower-shippers, but they say rising supermarket prices haven’t affected sales of their product.
U.S. imports of Peruvian onions have increased from 130,807 metric tons in 2018 to 164,734 metric tons in 2022, according to statistics from the USDA.
Representing a counter-season balance to the Vidalia onion deal, strong supplies of Peruvian onions are anticipated for G&R Farms, says Steven Shuman.
Cobbtown, Ga.-based Shuman Farms has started shipping its premium sweet onions from Peru and the marketer expects to ship from Peru through March, said John Shuman, president and CEO.
Peruvian onion supplies are increasing for Bland Farms, says Sloan Lott, director of sales.
Increasing U.S. per capita availability of onions has been accompanied by rising onion imports by Mexico, Peru, and other countries, according to USDA data.
Morning Kiss Organic says it will have organic Eastern-grown red, yellow and white onions, along with hand-cultivated organic Vidalia onions, this spring. The onions will join its lineup of organic summer vegetables.
The agreement gives Syngenta access to Emerald Seed Co.’s germplasm of open-pollinated and hybrid onion germplasm and expands Syngenta’s portfolio.
Onion prices for 2024 to date have been near historic levels, but weather and water woes have posed challenges for crops.
The Vidalia onion industry is planning for an aggressive promotional season, said Bob Stafford, interim director of the Vidalia Onion Committee in Vidalia, Ga.
While epidemiologic and traceback data shows the likely source of an E. coli multistate outbreak is fresh, slivered onions served at McDonald’s, the FDA has not been able to implicate a grower at the time.
The company recalled yellow onions voluntarily as the Food and Drug Administration works to determine the source of an E. coli outbreak in 13 states.
The Glennville, Ga.-based operation said Vidalia sweet onions will be available through early October due to a strong season.
The strain of E. coli linked to illnesses was never found in testing samples but only through epidemiologic and traceback evidence linked the outbreak to the onions supplied by Taylor Farms.
The California-based company said it has automated tropical fruit, citrus and onions packing lines.
Smileys, a naturally tearless and sweet onion, will be featured at the Onions 52 booth at the Southeast Produce Council’s Southern Exposure.
With the Vidalia season around the corner, Bland Farms says it will share insights about this year’s crop.
Harvest already is underway for some growers, and others are expected to start clipping onions by mid-March.