Like many of its Treasure Valley onion-growing neighbors, Kitamura Farms in Ontario -Oregon- has begun planting its 2019-20 crop. But, again like their neighbors, owners and brothers Larry and Rick Kitamura are experiencing a bit of a rain delay this week. Problems are to be expected in farming, as these third-generation growers well know.
Acting as spokesperson for his brothers, Grant Kitamura, a managing partner at Baker & Murakami Produce in Ontario, told OnionBusiness the farm’s more than 2,500 acres was about 20-30 percent planted, and he said there were no big changes in the program for the coming season. “We had good precipitation this winter, so our water should be OK,” Grant said of the new year.
Kitamura Farms is a grower partner in Murakami Produce and one of the farming entities for Baker & Murakami. Grant said the onions from his brothers and the other growers for 2018-19 season are expected to carry into May. He said, “We will go into reefer soon, and quality should remain very good,” adding, “Our storage quality has been excellent.”
As the last of the Kitamuras to farm commercially, Larry and Rick have carried forward tradition and culture brought to the United States by their grandfather in second decade of the 20th century.
Many of the farms, he said, have been Japanese. “It’s cultural, and it’s strong friendships. And it’s very evident in my family how those relationships have helped us. We don’t take all the credit.”
