Snapshot of Northwest onion production
Snapshot of Northwest onion production
On Jan. 29, 2015, the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Vegetables 2014 Summary. According to the report, Washington growers planted 2,000 acres of summer non-storage onions in 2014, and harvested the full crop. Yield per acre was 400 hundredweight, with production set at 800,000 hundredweight. The price per hundredweight during 2014 was $34.60, and the value of production was set at $27.68 million.
Washington planted a total of 20,000 acres to summer storage onions last year, also harvesting the full acreage. Yield per acre was 650 hundredweight, with production set at 13,000 hundredweight. The price per hundredweight during 2014 was $8.90, and the value of production was set at $106.44 million.
Turning to Oregon, onions produced in Malheur County are part of the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion growing region. As a result, NASS provided data which reported on all other counties in the Beaver State. In this category, Oregon growers planted a total of 10,300 to summer storage onions last year, harvesting the full acreage. Yield per acre was 660 hundredweight, with production set at 6,798 hundredweight. The price per hundredweight during 2014 was $8.90, and the value of production was set at $49.46 million.
In Malheur County, NASS reported the following. Oregon growers planted a total of 9,400 to summer storage onions last year, harvesting 9,300 acres. Yield per acre was 800 hundredweight, with production set at 7,440 hundredweight. The price per hundredweight during 2014 was $8.40, and the value of production was set at $56.86 million.
In the publication Oregon Agriculture: Facts & Figures July 2014, it was noted that storage onions ranked eighth among Oregon’s Top 40 commodities during 2013 at a value of $143.356 million.