Georgia Vidalia onion shipments are underway and loadings should be similar to a year ago.
There are 9,373 acres on onions in the ground, which is similar to 2019 crop acreage, which was about 2,000 acres down from 2018.
The Vidalia Onion Committee reports more onions are being grown on less acreage. There are about 80,000 to 110,000 onion plants per acre being cultivated by hand to produce the 5 million to 7 million 40-pound equivalents shipped every year.
In 2019, the Vidalia onion industry produced 5.3 million 40-pound equivalents. There is a six to eight-week harvest period for fresh onions, and then about half the crop, or 3 million to 3.5 million bushels, is shipped from cold storage or controlled atmosphere storage through summer.
Last year was one of the best shipping season in Vidalia onion history and the industry has hopes for the same results this go around.
Every year the Georgia Department of Agriculture sets an official start date for the season after hearing from a 13-member advisory panel of the Vidalia Onion Committee of growers. This year’s start date was April 16.