Onion growers and shippers in Washington and Oregon expect a good shipping season with harvest underway and onions headed to storage, despite growing conditions in the Pacific Northwest which were less than ideal.
FC Boxom Co. of Seattle works with several growers, shippers and packers in eastern Washington marketing yellow, red, white and sweet onions. Harvest of early yellow and red varieties started in mid-July and will run through September or October. Although the weather was a little cool during the growing season, higher yields are expected. The company’s acreage is about the same as a year ago.
Onions 52 of Syracuse, has conventional and organic red, yellow, white and sweet onions out of Washington this season, as well as its proprietary Sunions “tearless and sweet” onions. The Washington harvest started in early August and is being moved into storage. Onion shipments will continue through mid-May.
Countryside Acres LLC, of Walla Walla, WA., grows and sells yellow Walla Walla sweet onions and a small number of Candy Sweet onions. Harvest started late this year due to cold and rainy weather. The company brought in the first bins on June 20, after the onions cured in gunny sacks in the field.
Strebin Farms LLC of Troutdale, OR started harvesting onions in Yerington, Nev., in mid August and will begin shipping September 1st. The company has white, red, sweet and a few yellow onions. Acreage will be the same as last year; however, the company will add some red and yellow organic onions this season.
In Washington, yields per acre dropped from 90,720 pounds in 2020 to 63,840 pounds in 2021. And in Oregon, yields dropped from 90,048 pounds in 2020 to 79,856 pounds in 2021, according to the USDA. Utilized production of Washington onions was valued at $101 million in 2021, down 28% from 2020. Oregon onions had a total utilized production value of $115 million in 2021, down 5%.