New Mexico onion deal off to a good start
New Mexico onion deal off to a good start
With supplies down a bit, the New Mexico onion deal got off to a good start, and in mid-June shippers were quoting prices better than usual for this time of year.
Stormy Adams of Shiloh Produce Inc. in Hatch, NM, summed up the comments of many who were interviewed by The Produce News when he said, "The crop is short, so demand is up and the prices are pretty good."
Mr. Adams said that the short supplies are the result of reduced acreage and reduced yields. Mimbres Valley Produce Co. Inc. in Deming, NM, is one of the firms that contributed to the reduced acreage. "We decided to lay out of the deal for a year or two," said Grayson (Fuzz) Smyer, the company's general manager. "It hasn't been a good deal since 1998. We just decided to give it a rest. We'll probably look at it again in a couple of years."
This year, Mimbres is concentrating much of its efforts on its watermelon acreage, which Mr. Smyer said is the firm's top crop. Mimbres' decision is no doubt working out for that firm as well as others.
Most New Mexican onion growers have been producing product since mid-May, and commercial production should continue for the next five months. The onions have been sizing very well so far this year, which has left a shortage of small onions. On June 20, Mr. Adams said that a premium was being paid for mediums and pre- packs, with jumbos being in good supply. "But I think we will have a shortage of jumbos in a week or 10 days," he said.
That won't bode well for Larry Barker of Barker Produce Inc. in Las Cruces, NM. "I deal mostly with the processors who want the jumbos," he said. "There's not much of a market for the small onions with the processors, which is good because the small onions are very tight."
He said that this year has been fairly typical, but he confirmed that prices are up a bit. Like the others questioned, he said that the quality of the crop is very good. Within the next few days, Mr. Barker said that the onions grown from transplants will start to be dug and so he expects a bit of an increase in supplies.
Shawn Barris of Griffin-Holder Co., which sells the New Mexican deal out of Rocky Ford, CO, agreed that it has been difficult to secure small onions. "It's become a large onion deal," he said. "That's just what everyone is doing."
As such, he said that he expects the small onions to return a premium throughout the year. After relocating into New Mexico every year for the past 20 years to sell that deal, Griffin-Holder no longer has an operation in that state and instead sells those onions from its Colorado facility.
"This is the third year we've done it that way, and it works pretty good," said Mr. Barris.
New Mexico sells a wide variety of onions including a good supply of reds, yellows and whites. The various shippers offer both sweet and non-sweet varieties.
Stormy Adams of Shiloh Produce Inc. in Hatch, NM, summed up the comments of many who were interviewed by The Produce News when he said, "The crop is short, so demand is up and the prices are pretty good."
Mr. Adams said that the short supplies are the result of reduced acreage and reduced yields. Mimbres Valley Produce Co. Inc. in Deming, NM, is one of the firms that contributed to the reduced acreage. "We decided to lay out of the deal for a year or two," said Grayson (Fuzz) Smyer, the company's general manager. "It hasn't been a good deal since 1998. We just decided to give it a rest. We'll probably look at it again in a couple of years."
This year, Mimbres is concentrating much of its efforts on its watermelon acreage, which Mr. Smyer said is the firm's top crop. Mimbres' decision is no doubt working out for that firm as well as others.
Most New Mexican onion growers have been producing product since mid-May, and commercial production should continue for the next five months. The onions have been sizing very well so far this year, which has left a shortage of small onions. On June 20, Mr. Adams said that a premium was being paid for mediums and pre- packs, with jumbos being in good supply. "But I think we will have a shortage of jumbos in a week or 10 days," he said.
That won't bode well for Larry Barker of Barker Produce Inc. in Las Cruces, NM. "I deal mostly with the processors who want the jumbos," he said. "There's not much of a market for the small onions with the processors, which is good because the small onions are very tight."
He said that this year has been fairly typical, but he confirmed that prices are up a bit. Like the others questioned, he said that the quality of the crop is very good. Within the next few days, Mr. Barker said that the onions grown from transplants will start to be dug and so he expects a bit of an increase in supplies.
Shawn Barris of Griffin-Holder Co., which sells the New Mexican deal out of Rocky Ford, CO, agreed that it has been difficult to secure small onions. "It's become a large onion deal," he said. "That's just what everyone is doing."
As such, he said that he expects the small onions to return a premium throughout the year. After relocating into New Mexico every year for the past 20 years to sell that deal, Griffin-Holder no longer has an operation in that state and instead sells those onions from its Colorado facility.
"This is the third year we've done it that way, and it works pretty good," said Mr. Barris.
New Mexico sells a wide variety of onions including a good supply of reds, yellows and whites. The various shippers offer both sweet and non-sweet varieties.
