The onion harvest is in full swing in the Imperial Valley, California. Last week the Onion Study Tour visited the ‘Exploring the West’ cultivation companies of Rio Farms and Shiloh Produce. At the first company, the onion harvesting machines rode to and fro. At the second company, Mexican labourers started harvesting with hundreds late in the day in order to manually harvest 2.5 hectares that night. The difference between both companies is that Rio Farms supplies to industry (Gills Onions), while the Shiloh Farms onions make their way to national retail and wholesalers.
The onion harvest is in full swing at Rio Farms
Rio Farms
The yellow onions in the Rio Farms’ field were sprayed prior to harvest because of the heat. It takes about a day to harvest 4 hectares. It was notable that the harvested onions were all consistently the same large size. This selection (120mm+) would therefore be unmarketable on the fresh market, and their shelf life is limited. After being harvested, the onions were driven to a nearby ‘open-air packing station’ where they were selected and driven to Gills Onions, and they are then processed within a day. The Californian harvest starts in the Imperial Valley in April and May, after which the season is continued in Fresno from June until September, and in Monterey until November.
Rio Farms: colossal jumbo onions
Rio Farms: the open-air packing station
Shiloh Farms
We then visited cultivator John Hawks, who supplies onions to Shiloh Farms. This company has a broad assortment of vegetables, and onions are a large part of that. After the harvest in California, the harvest in New Mexico starts. The onions are directly harvested from the fields into plastic bins by labourers at night under lighting installations. To keep the temperature, where possible, below 20 degrees Celsius, cold air is passed through the bins for several days.
Shiloh Farms: onions stored in bins
Climate computers are, incidentally, not used for this. “Every day and temperature is different, it takes a farmer’s intuition,” according to Hawks. It has to be said that Hawks’ efforts paid off, because his onions were the first we saw this week that had a thick skin. “By working this way we have happy onions and happy customers, and happy customers pay more,” Hawks explained, laughing.
Shiloh Farms: cultivator John Hawks proves air is passed through the bins with a 20-dollar bill.
In the packing station a separate space has been cleared for organic onions. These provide for an increasing need in the US. Just like in the Netherlands it takes three years to become certified. The harvest of organic onions is approximately 900 bags (of 22 kg) per acre, while that same area would fill 1,200 to 1,400 bags with conventional onions. Hawks harvested 52 acres of organic onions this year and 200 acres of conventional onions, but organic cultivation is increasing.
Shiloh Farms: John Hawks cultivates for Shiloh Produce, a company that supplies onions to American and Canadian retail and wholesaler’s.
Additional cost for organic
Organic onions get an obvious additional cost, especially the early strains. Currently the price for organic onions is at 22 dollar per bag, while conventional onions are sold at 10 to 12 dollar per bag. When there is little demand for organic onions, they are sold as conventional in order to maintain the market. Naturally the organic cultivation also has its challenges. For example, how does a cultivator handle thrips? “By listening to country music,” Hawks laughed, “because you cannot do anything at all against thrips.”
Mexican labourers harvesting
They are paid 15 dollar an hour
Late in the day two hundred Mexican labourers went into the fields to finish working on the plot of 2.5 hectares that night. Labour costs are soaring, and according to Hawks it is only a matter of time before the onions for the fresh market are harvested mechanically. “We pay the Mexican workers 15 dollar an hour and we pay them every day. The harvest employees have been coming here for six years. But it is impossible regarding other areas where these minimum wages are not applied.”
A familiar sight from another field in California. The burlap sacks with fresh harvest remain in the field for a few days.
The Dutchies. From left to right: Peter Ng (Peri and Sons), Frank Druyff (Hazera), Chayenne Wiskerke (Wiskerke Onions), Piet van Liere (Flevotrade), Ben de Nijs (Hazera) and your reporter on location Izak Heijboer.