Onions are being harvested and packed in the Treasure Valley region as growers enter their second week of production. Early signs indicate that some of the crop is tending smaller, which stems from issues created by weather problems during the planting season. More specifically, rain during the spring meant that planting was more sporadic, and the plants that were in the ground had to endure a greater amount of moisture during the early growing period.
"We started packing on August 9, which means last week was our first full week of production," said Cameron Skeen of Baker & Murakami. "Right now, we are still harvesting green top, which we will harvest until the end of August, with our storage crop onions predicted to wrap up around mid October. At this stage, it looks like we are seeing a smaller size profile than last year. Therefore our prediction is that Colossal and Super Colossal will see lighter supplies, with good volume on Jumbos as it sits right now."
Despite the rain causing a few issues, Skeen said overall crop health looks good, aided by weather conditions during summer. "The summer growing weather was very nice which helped us to catch up."
Demand should improve
In this early stage of the Treasure Valley onion season, the market is subdued with demand slow. Suppliers explained that this has been caused by the number of onions still in the market from California and New Mexico. However according to Skeen this should change in the coming weeks. "We are anticipating that demand will pick up," he said.
Skeen also noted that Baker & Murakami will continue to present their current offerings in the market this year in terms of packaging and varietal options. This is also the third year for Baker & Murakami's automated grading and packing line. The company says it has been an excellent investment and they are continually learning new aspects of it.
"The new line is still going very well," Skeen shared. "As each week goes by, we continue to fine tune and make small improvements. We brought onboard some new hires over the summer which we are very excited about as they will help in the running of that line. We are very pleased with where we are at with our investment and automation."
For more information:
Cameron Skeen
Baker & Murakami
Ph: +1 (541) 889-3131
cskeen@bakerandmurakami.com
www.bakerandmurakami.com