Texas onion producers looking for bumper crop in 2006
Texas onion producers looking for bumper crop in 2006
Acreage figures point to a Texas spring onion crop that is almost 15 percent larger than last year, and early reports indicate that quality and size will also be up.
"My guys just finished walking the fields and they told me the crop is looking quite good. We are very optimistic," Bob De Bruyn of De Bruyn Produce Co. said March 1. "It doesn't look like a particularly heavy crop, but the condition is really good."
The Texas Onion Committee, which operates the Texas onion marketing order, has reported that a combined 17,694 acres were planted in the fall for harvest this spring in the Rio Grande Valley and the Winter Garden districts. All of the increase is in the valley as the Winter Garden area is down about 75 acres to 4,056 this year. While it is only a slight decrease from 2004-05, it represents a 25 percent decline from the 2003-04 season for that district.
But the Rio Grande Valley has more than made up for the difference. In fact, at nearly 17,700 acres, plantings are up almost 40 percent since the 2002-03 season. Acreage has increased a healthy percentage each year since then with 2003-04 registering a 13 percent increase and 2004-05 jumping another 7 percent.
John McClung of the Texas Produce Association said that the industry did "fabulously" two years ago and "so-so" last year -- better than with most crops -- so the increase has not been unexpected. As Texas growers look for profitable crops, sweet onions are moving to the front of the class. The statistics also show that the plantings were a bit later than the previous few years in the Rio Grande Valley. In the fall of 2002, the heaviest planting weeks by a very large margin was the two-week period beginning Oct. 18. The following year, the heavy period began during the two-week period beginning Oct. 10. In 2004, the heaviest planting period began Oct. 21. This year, those dates saw the same volume, but the number of plantings in November was greater than ever before. In fact, more than 5,250 acres were planted in November compared to 4,500 acres the year before and only 3,000 in 2003.
Of course, the famous Texas 1015 received its name because when it was first developed the 1015 referred to the ideal planting date of Oct. 15. The 1015 variety itself has been improved and morphed over the years so that now the 1015 moniker refers to a class of onions rather than one specific variety. Obviously some of today's 1015s are very capable of having a later plant date.
Don Ed Holmes of the Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said this late planting in the valley is the result of the development of new varieties that can withstand the late spring heat famous in Texas. He specifically singled out the Don Victor variety, "which does very well in the heat."
Mr. Holmes explained. "It used to be conventional wisdom that you were out of Mexico by April 5 and finished in the [Rio Grande] valley by May 5. But now South Texas has varieties that last into late May. These new varieties have a lot of heat tolerance."
This helps extend the window for marketing the crop and gives Texas shippers a wider chance to hit a good market. But it also causes valley shippers to butt heads with their colleagues in Winter Garden and producers in other areas, most notably Southern California.
"We're not just having a little overlap," quipped Mr. De Bruyn, "we're going head-to-head with them." But, he added, that is not a bad thing but a reflection of the strength of the Texas onion in the marketplace.
In the past, competing districts going head-to-head with lots of volume might have doomed the season. But this year the industry is expecting not only a good crop but good returns as well. Mr. Holmes said that the Mexican deal has had a strong f.o.b. price since the beginning of the season as producers started out with a light crop and the market has been consistently between $8 and $10 per carton.
Mr. De Bruyn said March 1 that Mexico still hadn't hit its heavy shipping period. "We're still waiting for them to fire up & maybe this week."
The slow start and good prices have Texas shippers awaiting the start of the season in a collective good mood.
With the advent of new varieties, the South Texas Onion Committee, working through TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc., has published a new Onion Buyer's Guide for the retail trade. It helps marketers define the Texas industry and lets buyers know who they are and what they are up to for the 2006 season.
(For more on Texas onions, see the March 13 issue of The Produce News.)
"My guys just finished walking the fields and they told me the crop is looking quite good. We are very optimistic," Bob De Bruyn of De Bruyn Produce Co. said March 1. "It doesn't look like a particularly heavy crop, but the condition is really good."
The Texas Onion Committee, which operates the Texas onion marketing order, has reported that a combined 17,694 acres were planted in the fall for harvest this spring in the Rio Grande Valley and the Winter Garden districts. All of the increase is in the valley as the Winter Garden area is down about 75 acres to 4,056 this year. While it is only a slight decrease from 2004-05, it represents a 25 percent decline from the 2003-04 season for that district.
But the Rio Grande Valley has more than made up for the difference. In fact, at nearly 17,700 acres, plantings are up almost 40 percent since the 2002-03 season. Acreage has increased a healthy percentage each year since then with 2003-04 registering a 13 percent increase and 2004-05 jumping another 7 percent.
John McClung of the Texas Produce Association said that the industry did "fabulously" two years ago and "so-so" last year -- better than with most crops -- so the increase has not been unexpected. As Texas growers look for profitable crops, sweet onions are moving to the front of the class. The statistics also show that the plantings were a bit later than the previous few years in the Rio Grande Valley. In the fall of 2002, the heaviest planting weeks by a very large margin was the two-week period beginning Oct. 18. The following year, the heavy period began during the two-week period beginning Oct. 10. In 2004, the heaviest planting period began Oct. 21. This year, those dates saw the same volume, but the number of plantings in November was greater than ever before. In fact, more than 5,250 acres were planted in November compared to 4,500 acres the year before and only 3,000 in 2003.
Of course, the famous Texas 1015 received its name because when it was first developed the 1015 referred to the ideal planting date of Oct. 15. The 1015 variety itself has been improved and morphed over the years so that now the 1015 moniker refers to a class of onions rather than one specific variety. Obviously some of today's 1015s are very capable of having a later plant date.
Don Ed Holmes of the Onion House in Weslaco, TX, said this late planting in the valley is the result of the development of new varieties that can withstand the late spring heat famous in Texas. He specifically singled out the Don Victor variety, "which does very well in the heat."
Mr. Holmes explained. "It used to be conventional wisdom that you were out of Mexico by April 5 and finished in the [Rio Grande] valley by May 5. But now South Texas has varieties that last into late May. These new varieties have a lot of heat tolerance."
This helps extend the window for marketing the crop and gives Texas shippers a wider chance to hit a good market. But it also causes valley shippers to butt heads with their colleagues in Winter Garden and producers in other areas, most notably Southern California.
"We're not just having a little overlap," quipped Mr. De Bruyn, "we're going head-to-head with them." But, he added, that is not a bad thing but a reflection of the strength of the Texas onion in the marketplace.
In the past, competing districts going head-to-head with lots of volume might have doomed the season. But this year the industry is expecting not only a good crop but good returns as well. Mr. Holmes said that the Mexican deal has had a strong f.o.b. price since the beginning of the season as producers started out with a light crop and the market has been consistently between $8 and $10 per carton.
Mr. De Bruyn said March 1 that Mexico still hadn't hit its heavy shipping period. "We're still waiting for them to fire up & maybe this week."
The slow start and good prices have Texas shippers awaiting the start of the season in a collective good mood.
With the advent of new varieties, the South Texas Onion Committee, working through TexaSweet Citrus Marketing Inc., has published a new Onion Buyer's Guide for the retail trade. It helps marketers define the Texas industry and lets buyers know who they are and what they are up to for the 2006 season.
(For more on Texas onions, see the March 13 issue of The Produce News.)
