Favorable growing conditions have resulted in good volumes of onions in the US. But without an accompanying bump in demand, the price for onions has been low.
“The market is bad right now,” says Kyle Roberts of Progresso Farms in Othello, Washington.
“The season is great because we've got quality onions,” he says, “but the price right now is very low.”
Jason Walker, of Bybee Produce, also notes the low prices and attributes this to demand which has not kept up with the volume of onions produced.
“Yields for the season have been good, so volume has been good,” he says.
“But with lots of volume and slow demand, prices have been low, so it'd be a good value for anyone purchasing onions right now.”
He reports that prices for onions are $3.50 for a 50 lb bag of jumbo yellow onions, $3.00 for a 50 lb bag of medium yellow onions and $4.00 for a 25 lb bag of red onions.
He adds that imports from Mexico have also affected the price.
“There's some pressure from Mexico shipping onions,” says Walker, “and that has not helped with prices.”
Brenden Kent, of Sunset Onions in Washington, agrees that Mexican onions have put pressure on prices in the US, but he anticipates shipments from Mexico to decrease in the coming weeks.
“Right now, there are loads coming in from Mexico,” he says, “but in about four or five weeks, they'll drop off.”
Regarding the high volume of onions, he believes it's a result of large plantings and favorable weather.
“There were lots of acres planted,” he says, “and that just resulted in too many onions for the demand there is. Additionally, crops everywhere were good. In previous years, we've experienced weather issues or other anomalies which have evened out volume so it matches demand, but this year, we haven't seen that.”
He says that red and white onions should hold up relatively well in price, but yellow onions have been especially affected.
“Demand is down right now due to an oversupply,” he says, “and especially for yellow onions, we're seeing prices fall.”