Early promise of sweet Vidalia crop becomes a reality for G&R Farms
Early promise of sweet Vidalia crop becomes a reality for G&R Farms
What looked like a promising crop for G&R Farms in Glennville, GA, has delivered and the company is ready with ample quantities of top-quality Vidalia onions
“The crop looks good, we’ve gotten a pretty good stand, maybe 90 percent, about what we’re looking for,” said G&R’s Kelby Werner. “We’ve had years that have been better. All in all, driving around and looking at other people’s crops as well, everybody’s looking pretty good.”
“The onions look good — ours and other people’s,” said Robert Dasher, one of the company founders. “Overall we don’t have a perfect stand and I didn’t see too many that do have a perfect stand, but I think we’re going to have a 90 percent stand. I’ve seen years where we’d have 95 or better. But I don’t care if you’ve been growing them 100 years, you won’t find two years exactly the same.”
Dasher should know – he’s been growing Vidalias for 53 years now. The Dasher family has been farming in the Vidalia area since 1945. Robert and his brother, the late Gerald Dasher, followed their father into the family business and launched G&R in the 1960s.
“There’s no magic secret” to growing a great Vidalia onion, Dasher said. “It’s good soil, good climate and the main thing that contributes to the sweetness of the onions is it’s grown fast.”
Earlier in the year, Dasher had been concerned that an off-kilter winter that saw drastic temperature extremes days apart could lead to bolting in the crop as it matured.
“That could trigger seeders,” he said in mid-March, “because we’ve had so many variations of temperature, but I might be totally wrong.”
He was.
The onions have not gone to seed and in fact many matured well ahead of the official April 27 pack and ship date.
Dasher has watched in wonder as the Vidalia deal has grown to international prominence over the last half-century.
“Way back when we first started the Vidalia onion wasn’t well known and it wasn’t defined -- it was just an onion,” he said.
The biggest change he’s seen? Food safety.
“We’re stressing more and more food safety and traceability,” Dasher said. “Whatever they want us to do, we’re going to do it and we do the very best job we can. We do everything possible.”
