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Onion Market Update 03/19/2025
By John Harris
It’s been a while since I have posted an update. Frankly, I just haven’t had the nerve to give an update about a market that is a dumpster fire. Nobody wants to hear from me right now, but I’ll give it a go anyway since it has been a pretty long time.
I’ll start with Mexican onions. The Mexican crop has been of exceptional quality on all colors and sizes. As for prices, they’re not favorable, so there’s no need to elaborate further. For U.S. domestic growers, there is considerable concern right now over the amount of Mexican product at our border, given that we have ample supplies of domestic product to supply the country. This isn’t a new development for this year compared to any other year. There is undoubtedly an argument on both sides. The only thing I caution folks who are cussing Mexico right now is that Mexico was an enormous buyer last year and, without question, made our domestic market what it was. There is currently some controversy regarding the 1944 Texas-Mexico Water Treaty, and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. During our annual fly-in to Washington, DC, we pressed our representatives on this issue. Please be aware that the National Onion Association (NOA) members are actively advocating for our U.S. growers on this issue. Texas growers have just begun their new crop harvest of yellows, and colors are expected to follow here in the coming weeks with increased volume.
Storage crop supplies should be manageable with what remains. This time of year, it becomes a little more challenging as the warm southern regions transition to new crop onions due to concerns about sprouting in the storage onions. With that said, there are plenty of growers who treat their onions at harvest to combat sprouting issues and store them in cold storage to keep the onions dormant and asleep, with every intention of running their crop well into May and beyond. Quality is a bit of a mixed bag. At this time of year, after a long storage season, onions often develop pressure bruising and exhibit translucent scales, which many receivers will reject. I personally wish that the grade standard could be changed on this. A firm hard storage onion with some translucency is absolutely of no concern to the consumer or the edibility of an onion. If they are soft and spongy, then, by all means, there is an issue at hand. The market for storage onions is also relatively poor. However, the few storage growers left with premium whites are still commanding very respectable prices, considering all things about this market.
To end on a positive note, I want to look ahead to the end of April when the storage crop onions are mostly gone, and we start moving into the Imperial Valley of California. I have high hopes that our market will improve and return to levels that exceed the cost of production. There is nothing good for anyone in a market like this, regardless of which side of the transaction you are on. With prices this low, there is simply no margin to be made for anyone, and we should all hope and pray that we get back above $10.00/bag on everything by the time May rolls around. As always, I appreciate any feedback you may have. There are many opinions out there, and I’m just one of them, so I appreciate the conversations that these updates facilitate.
Editors Note: John Harris is the president and founder of Paradigm Fresh and Colorado Cold Connect in Fort Morgan, Colorado. He can be reached at John@paradigmfresh.com.
