There will be less onion volume this year for shipping, which is expected to last throughout the winter.
Excellent quality is being reported on all sizes of storage onions.
Total U.S. onion shipments for the week of Oct. 23-29 totaled 2.52 million 40-pound carton equivalents, down 9% from 2.75 million cartons the same time last year.
Domestic truck shipments for the week of Oct. 23-29 accounted for about 1.79 million cartons, domestic rail shipments accounted for 97,000 cartons and domestic piggyback shipments accounted for 6,000 cartons.
Top domestic suppliers of onions in late October were Washington, Idaho, Oregon, New York, California, Utah, Michigan, Colorado and California.
Washington accounted for 837,000 cartons of onions the week of Oct. 23-29, or about 33% of total shipments in late October. Idaho accounted for 461,000 cartons or about 16% of total supply. Oregon accounted for 124,000 cartons or about 6% of total shipments.
New York accounted for 171,000 cartons or about 7% of total onion shipments in late October. Colorado accounted for about 97,000 cartons or about 4% of total shipments.
Snake River Produce, Nyssa, Ore., reports many Northwest U.S. onion growers saw shorter-than-expected crop volume this fall, which was even worse than last season.
Onion imports accounted for 624,000 cartons during the week of Oct. 23-29, down from 676,000 cartons the same week last year. Imports accounted for about 25% of the total U.S. onion supply in late October.
Peru alone accounted for 518,000 cartons or about 21% of total U.S. onion shipments in late October. Other countries sending onions to the U.S in late October include Canada, Mexico and Spain.