U.S. Spring Onion Crop Jumps 19%

WASHINGTON - Sep 7/06 - SNS -- The USDA sees a massive increase in the size of this year's spring onion crop, pegging output at 13.3 million cwt (100 pound units), is up 19% from last year.

Acres harvested, at 34,500, are down 2% from a year ago, while yield, at 386 cwt per acre, is up 68 cwt per acre from 2005. The value of the spring crop is estimated at 241 million dollars, 6% less than last year.

In Texas, irrigated onions had high yields and good quality with low incidence of disease this season. In Georgia, rainfall during the winter months had been normal to slightly below normal, while rainfall during spring was well below normal. Temperatures were near normal during the winter and early spring.

Starting around mid-May, temperatures were well above normal with little or no rain. Due to these weather conditions, harvest got under way about a week earlier than normal. Yields are a record high for the State. Disease problems have been at a minimum and the crop was rated good to mostly excellent throughout the growing season. However, many growers did not harvest all of their crop due to depressed prices.

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