US: it's looking good for Vidalia onion crop

Georgia's Vidalia onion season opens Monday with a new logo, a prestigious national endorsement and predictions the 2006 crop will be one of the best in years.

Growers claim the Vidalia is the world's sweetest onion because of the mild winters and low-sulfur soils in the 20-county growing area around the town of Vidalia in southeastern Georgia.

"It's the caviar of onions," said grower Delbert Bland of Glennville. "They only make you cry when they're gone."

Since the first small-scale growing of Vidalias in the 1930s, they've morphed into one of the state's most famous and lucrative crops, worth about $75 million a year to the 98 registered growers. Their statewide economic impact is estimated at $200 million.

With nearly ideal winter growing conditions, experts believe this year's crop will be a treat for consumers. Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin toured the Vidalia region Thursday and said he found "beautiful, excellent onions."

Bland said his workers began digging and shipping onions on Thursday. "I think there's going to be superb quality," said Bland, who runs Bland Farms and has about 2,400 acres of onions. "You're going to see a bright, clean onion."

To maintain high standards and discourage early shipments of inferior, immature onions, the state and growers themselves began setting an official season-opening date two years ago. Farmers can ship before that date, but those onions have to pass a rigorous inspection before they leave the farms.

The season will run for about eight weeks, but some growers have invested in sophisticated warehouses that allow them to store and sell onions as late as December. Growers expect to harvest about 13,800 acres this year, a slight increase from last year, said Reid Torrance, the Extension Service coordinator for Tattnall County.

"Right now it looks like we're going to have better-than-average yields," he said. "The quality looks real good." Torrance said a few growers began digging and shipping this week, but the season should be in full swing next week.

Farmer Moses Coleman started Georgia's onion industry near Vidalia, about 80 miles west of Savannah, in 1931 when he noticed that his first crop was unusually mild. Other growers joined in and began promoting them. Over the years, Georgia has become protective of its famous onion.

A Vidalia has to be a yellow granex variety that is flatter than tall and meets the industry's standard for sweetness and mildness - a standard that is written into state law.

The state limits the growing area to all or parts of 20 southeastern Georgia counties around Vidalia. Georgia lawmakers designated Vidalias as the state's official vegetable in 1990, and the Vidalia name is a registered trademark of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

The town of Vidalia honors its famous onion at an annual festival, which is scheduled April 26-30. The Vidalia Onion Committee, a promotional group funded by growers and the state, recently unveiled a new logo showing a white Vidalia onion against a black and green background.

"What I'm hoping to accomplish with it is brand recognition and consistency," said Wendy Brannen, the committee's manager. "We wanted something that looked fresh and a little more modern, but something that still conveyed that we are a Georgia farm product."

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