But Herb Haun, general manager of Haun Packing in Weiser, says that forecast might be too optimistic: "We had an extremely hot August and we had some fairly severe wind storms mid to late August and I believe that our yield has probably been reduced maybe five percent.”
That said, he notes he’s shipped about 20 percent more onions than this time last year. Despite the less than ideal weather for the past month, Haun says the quality of the crop has been excellent.
In Eastern Oregon's Malheur County, production is up as well. The forecast estimates growers will dig up 120 million more pounds of onions this season.
As for the market, Haun says onion farmers may squeak out a bit of profit or at least break even. Last year, Idaho, Oregon and Washington grew nearly half of all onions in the United States.
Source: boisestatepublicradio.org
