Weather hurts Asian, European storage crop; shortages elsewhere

By DAVE WILKINS

Capital Press

Northwest onion growers are wrapping up harvest this month with an upbeat market outlook.

Weather problems in parts of Asia and Europe have resulted in a sub-par global onion crop, spurring demand for U.S. storage onions, according to grower-shippers.

"I can't put a number to it, but export demand has been very good," said Gary Atkin, general manager at Agri Pack, Inc., a grower-shipper in Pasco, Wash.

Weather problems have reportedly hurt the storage onion crop in China, India, Japan, Poland, the Netherlands and other countries this year.

"There are a lot of problems around the world as far as shortages that could drive export demand," Atkin said.

Exports to Taiwan and Japan have been particularly good, he said.

Shipments to Taiwan might drop off a bit when the domestic onion harvest begins in a few weeks, but exports to Japan are expected to remain strong.

Farmers across the Northwest are finishing up onion harvest this month about a week or two later than normal due to a cooler-than-normal growing season.

Washington farmers are harvesting the last of an estimated 22,000 acres of summer storage onions this month.

Increased exports of Washington onions could bolster the domestic market, which includes Idaho and Eastern Oregon.

Growers in Western Idaho and neighboring Malheur County, Ore., are wrapping up harvest of about 20,000 acres of mostly Spanish sweet storage onions.

Shipping point prices from Idaho and Eastern Oregon packing sheds in early October were about $7 per 50-pound bag of jumbo onions.

That's down from the $10 per bag earlier this summer, but it's still not bad, said Garry Bybee, CEO of Fiesta Farms in Nyssa, Ore.

Yields could be down a little this year due to the cooler weather and the crop's late start, Bybee said. The size profile may be down a bit too, with fewer super and colossal sized onions.

"I'd say it's an average crop and has the potential to be a little above average on the price side," he said.

The quality of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon crop appears to be excellent, despite growing season challenges that included slow crop development, an early August hail storm and yellow spot virus problems in some fields, grower-shippers said.

"I would estimate somewhat below average production in terms of yield," said John Wong, president of Champion Produce Inc. in Parma, Idaho.

"But I think quality will continue to be good. It's a pretty good looking crop, with a nice skin set," he said.

Onion prices are holding up quite well considering the Northwest harvest is in full swing, Wong said.

"That always adds some pressure to prices," he said.