Onion World March/April 2019

ONION WORLD Voice of the Industry • OnionWorld.net • March / April 2019

CSS Farms

Quality is Key

For the Advertiser Index click here

PLUS: Trade Trends Growth Essentials A Well-Earned Retirement

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Table of Contents Magazines For Maximum Yield

ONION WORLD Volume 35, Number 3

March/April 2019 6

PO Box 333 Roberts, Idaho 83444 Telephone: (208) 520-6461

www.O n i o n W o r l d .n e t Onion World Contacts

Quality is Key

Publisher / Advertising Manager Dave Alexander dave@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com

10 14

A Well-Earned Retirement

Editor Denise Keller editor@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com

16

The Caribbean: Imports of Fresh Onions, Shallots

18

Fresh Ideas

CSS Farms

Growth Essentials

Director of Operations Brian Feist brian@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com

Buyers' Guide Trade Trends

Idaho and Malheur County Onion Growers Associations Annual Meeting

EDITORIAL INFORMATION Onion World is interested in newsworthy material related to onion production and marketing.

Contributions from all segments of the industry are welcome. Submit news releases, new product submissions, stories and photos via email to: editor@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com, or call (509) 697-9436.

ADVERTISING SALES For information on rates, mechanics, deadlines, list rental, direct mail, inserts or other information, call (208) 520-6461 or email: dave@onionworld.net

SUBSCRIPTIONS U.S. $24 per year Canada $40 per year Foreign $80 per year Payments may be made by check, Visa, MasterCard or American Express.

Wayne Mininger (left) swaps stories with John Bearden and Dan Wetegrove at the ag tour lunch site in McAllen, Texas, during the 2003 National Onion Association (NOA) annual convention, held in South Padre Island, Texas.

After 33 years serving as NOA’s executive vice president, Mininger is retiring in March. See the story on page 10.

On the Cover Cody Nickoloff with CSS Farms in Pasco, Wash., uses several soil management practices to consistently produce a quality onion crop.

See the story on page 6.

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Onion World • March/April 2019

Departments

15 17 22

New Products Calendar From the NOA

Subscribe online at: www.OnionWorld.net or call (503) 724-3581.

Email address changes/corrections to brian@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com or mail to: Onion World PO Box 333 Roberts, ID 83444 Onion World magazine (ISSN 1071-6653), is published eight times a year and mailed under a standard rate mailing permit at Idaho Falls, Idaho and at additional mailing offices.

Produced by Columbia Media Group PO Box 333, Roberts, ID, 83444.

Copyright 2019. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the express written permission of Columbia Media Group.

For information on reprints call (208) 520-6461.

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Quality is Key Story and photos by Denise Keller, Editor

Cody Nickoloff with CSS Farms checks the quality of Redwing onions in storage.

A

s most onion growers know, quality is key. For CSS Farms in Pasco, Washington, consistently growing a quality crop starts from the ground up, with soil health being a top priority for the farm.

CSS utilizes several soil management practices to produce the consistent quality needed to compete in the Columbia Basin.

“There are so many onions to choose from in the Basin that you have to be at the highest level, or I think you’re going to struggle with the market,” says CSS onion grower Cody Nickoloff. “Quality is everything. If you don’t have quality, you don’t have anything.”

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Onion World • March/April 2019

Among the biggest growing challenges for the farm is water infiltration. Decades of onion production and heavy cultivation of the ground have resulted in a fine sediment that settles during irrigation, creating a hardpan 6 inches down, Nickoloff says.

He is working to correct tillage practices to incorporate more matter into the ground and minimize plowing so that the sediment won’t be so fine.

CSS currently uses a mini-pitter to aerate the soil. The equipment creates small reservoirs about 6 to 8 inches deep between each double row. The grower runs the pitter through every square inch of onion ground

two or three times each season, beginning when onions reach the two-leaf stage. The process increases water holding capacity and prevents washout of sloped fields. It also helps oxygen get down to the roots and allows fertilizer to penetrate through the bed to the root zone instead of leaching off to the side of the bed.

Nickoloff also sees some soil health benefits from the farm’s variable rate applications of compost each fall. The program has helped increase the capacity of weaker soil to hold nutrients and water, which in turn, improves the health of onion plants.

Early-Market Grower

In addition to a focus on quality, CSS Farms takes advantage of timing to compete in the market. The farm is one of the first in the Basin to plant and harvest onions each year, according to Nickoloff.

When other growers are finishing the previous year’s storage crop, CSS has some of the first new-year crop coming out of the field, allowing the farm to find a place in the early market.

CSS Farms grows between 1,500 and 2,000 acres of onions for the fresh market. Acreage includes overwinter onions, spring-planted summer onions and a storage crop. The storage yellow onions are the farm’s big production push, with reds and whites filling in to meet market demands. Late-season yellows are mostly made up of Legend, Crockett and Hamilton, with Redwing used as the farm’s main late-season red variety and Ice Pearl as the primary main-season white.

The farm also grows some sweet onions, including Calibra and a pair of numbered varieties. In addition to onions, CSS Farms grows potatoes, as well as rotations of seed corn, sweet corn and grain sorghum.

CSS packs its onions, chip potatoes and table-stock potatoes at Agri-Pack, a subsidiary of CSS Farms. The Pasco packing shed packs more than 150 million pounds of onions each year, according to plant manager Ken Rutledge. Onions are shipped domestically and to customers in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.

The concern for quality carries over from the field into the packing shed.

The greatest difficulty in operating an onion packing shed is overcoming the temperature differentials between the air and the onions, Rutledge says.

“Because onions condense moisture similar to a glass of ice water on a summer day, the ability to manage temperature and humidity levels becomes difficult any time we have to pack in extreme heat or extreme cold,” Rutledge explains. “The best way to control this is with moving air. We have fans everywhere on walls and ceilings moving air constantly.”

CSS Farms uses a mini-pitter to aerate the farm’s onion ground and increase the water holding capacity of the soil by creating small reservoirs between each double row of onions.

A forklift transports a bin of onions inside the Agri-Pack packing shed.

Field Challenges

Similarly, efforts are made in the field to produce a healthy crop. Using drip OnionWorld.net

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CSS Farms irrigation on only 200 acres of the farm’s onions leaves the majority under center pivot irrigation. This requires careful irrigation management to prevent the development of diseases such as Botrytis neck rot, Nickoloff says.

“It’s an art to finish an onion under a pivot,” he adds.

Pink root and Fusarium pressure also needs to be managed. In addition, thrips are a constant challenge, the extent of which varies year to year. With few effective products available to control thrips, scouting is the best defense, Nickoloff says. The farm also cooperates with Washington State University researchers in trials of new chemistries.

Last year, the farm added peroxyacetic acid Jet-Ag to its program. Nickoloff says it’s been a game changer in his fungicide rotation. He begins applications at the five-leaf stage, and then runs it through the pivot weekly to kill bacteria. He has been trialing the product on downy mildew, black mold and white mold, and has seen good results. CSS also uses the product to sanitize onion storage facilities.

A worker operates an automatic bagging machine at Agri-Pack.

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Onion World • March/April 2019

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High-Risk Crop

The farm’s 120-acre overwinter onion crop presents a challenge all its own.

Although the crop is grown in an area of the Basin with slightly warmer winter temperatures, weather can still wreak havoc on the crop.

“On overwinter onions, most growers live by the motto that one in every four years you’re going to make it,” Nickoloff notes, explaining that bolting is most often the crop’s demise. “But if you do make it, on a good year, you make up quite a bit of return.”

Ideally, snow acts as a blanket to protect bulbs from freezing during the winter, and temperatures warm up steadily in the spring. Often, however, a hard freeze in early spring triggers plants to shift resources from bulb development to reproduction, and bolting occurs.

The crop is typically planted in September and harvested in June. When choosing a planting date, Nickoloff considers the next month’s weather, wanting onions to reach the three- or fourleaf stage before going dormant for the winter.

Farming Lifestyle

It’s the many challenges of growing onions that Nickoloff enjoys most.

“If everything was easy, it would be boring, right?” the grower points out. “I like the challenge. Every day, I have to keep my crop alive and do the best I can do for that crop. If I don’t, it’s easy to lose a lot of money really quickly.”

Nickoloff oversees CSS Farms’ onion production from ordering seed to managing fertility to harvesting the crop. He’s been with the farm for three years. He grew up nearby, in the Yakima Valley, working on his family’s fruit farm. Wanting out of agriculture, he went to work on the railroad, but missed being outside farming.

He landed a job at Carr Farms shortly before it was purchased by CSS Farms in 2016.

“When I came back and got the opportunity to farm again, I realized how much I missed it,” Nickoloff reflects. “It’s a passion; it’s a lifestyle. It’s not a job.”

Onion World Buyers Guide_Sept2018_Layout 1 9/25/2018 9:17 AM Page 1 An employee grades onions on the onion line.

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9

A Well-Earned Retirement

By Denise Keller, Editor

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humble person by nature, Wayne Mininger can’t help but be proud to have served as executive vice president of the National Onion Association (NOA) for nearly one-third of the association’s existence. Mininger started the job on Jan. 1, 1986, and will retire in March.

During his 33-year career, Mininger has built relationships, experienced adventures and “moved the needle” on various issues important to the industry.

“I have a really tough time not putting my elbows out of joint if I try to pat myself on the back,” Mininger smiles.

“I’m humbled that we could make such a big difference on a number of occasions.

There’s also a deep sense of pride and accomplishment that we weren’t just talking; we were accomplishing. That means a lot to me.”

Points of Pride

Looking back, Mininger recalls several moments of satisfaction and pride, including NOA’s role in negotiating NAFTA. The stakes were high, Mininger recounts. Tariffs had been in place for many years on onions from Canada and Mexico. NAFTA was going to happen; the

only question was what could the industry potentially win within the negotiations?

“The role we played in the original NAFTA negotiations will always stand out as being something extraordinary.

What we were able to accomplish for the onion industry in the early 1990s was remarkable,” Mininger says.

NOA’s creative advocacy – seeking seasonal snap-back provisions and a protracted tariff removal timeline – was worth at least $38 million to the U.S. onion industry, according to Mininger, or nearly $65 million in today’s dollars.

Mininger is also pleased with the NOA’s involvement in the Specialty Crop Research Initiative (SCRI), the idea for which germinated within the NOA, Mininger says. With program crops dominating ag appropriations conversations, the NOA pushed to give specialty crops a path to secure research dollars and incentivize collaboration among those in the land grant and cooperative extension services to work on serious onion disease and pest challenges.

Momentum and support from multicrop associations transformed the idea into reality. Ultimately, SCRI was ushered into

Wayne Mininger, NOA executive vice president since Jan. 1, 1986, will retire in March. His 33-year-career with the NOA spans nearly one-third of the association’s existence.

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Onion World • March/April 2019

law with the 2008 Farm Bill. Through the years, the U.S. dry bulb onion and garlic industries have received grants worth nearly $16 million, Mininger estimates.

To further facilitate onion research, Mininger made it a personal goal a couple decades ago to bring together researchers and onion producers for biennial conferences. His ambition eventually became the joint meetings of the NOA and the National Allium Research Conference (NARC). The two groups first met together in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 2014, and reconvened in Savannah, Georgia, in 2016. They will bring in a third group, the International Allium Research Symposium (IARS), for the International Allium Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, in July. These networking opportunities between researchers and producers add significant value to the industry, according to Mininger.

The research community, including Mike Bartolo, extension vegetable crop specialist with Colorado State University, is appreciative of Mininger’s commitment to onion research.

“Wayne has been instrumental in galvanizing onion researchers across

With less than a year of experience as NOA’s executive vice president, Wayne Mininger attends the 1986 Great Lakes Vegetable Convention in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he was a featured speaker during the onion day program.

the country into a unit that works cooperatively across many disciplines of science,” Bartolo says. “He has been a tireless supporter of our research projects and helped form an amazing relationship between researchers, growers and others in the onion industry.”

During the last decade of Mininger’s career, the issue of food safety has been a high priority. He is glad to have been part of the NOA’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) on the onion industry. NOA began conversations in 2008, engaging with Congress during lawmaking and then with the FDA, states, and private and land grant university researchers throughout the rulemaking process.

The NOA’s activism has resulted in regulatory reductions and immeasurable business benefits, Mininger says. The work is ongoing; most recently, NOA submitted comments supporting the extension of water quality and testing stipulations.

Kay Riley, general manager of Snake River Produce Company and a member of the NOA, has worked closely with Mininger for many years. The two have traveled together to various trade shows and Washington D.C. to advocate for the onion industry.

“Wayne has worked tirelessly to keep our interests in front of our elected representatives. He has a keen intellect and a real aptitude for the political arena. The

Standing in an onion field at the Dean Kincaid Inc. onion operation in Palmyra, Wisc., Wayne Mininger greets attendees arriving for the ag tour during the 2000 NOA summer convention.

John Swartz Jr., NOA president from 1988 to 1990, and Wayne Mininger conduct business at the 1989 NOA annual convention in Washington D.C.

NOA staffers Wayne Mininger, Monna Canaday and Tanya Fell celebrate the NOA’s 90th year with an ice sculpture at the 2003 annual convention in South Padre Island, Texas.

depth of his knowledge can only come through persistent study and attention to what is happening in our world,” Riley says. “His passion and interest go beyond what most of us would ever consider. He is fair minded and always has agriculture, and especially the onion business, in the center of his thoughts.”

Moments of Reflection

Mininger has found the challenges and opportunities associated with marketing food to be extraordinary.

“It’s been quite a ride. I wouldn’t trade my time with the ‘onion folks’ for anything,” Mininger says, sharing high praise for the NOA board members,

After retirement, Wayne and Ardith Mininger, pictured at the Pukalani Community Center during the 2018 annual convention in Maui, Hawaii, plan to build a home east of Austin, Texas, travel and enjoy time with family.

OnionWorld.net

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Mininger Retires

The NOA’s Monna Canaday, Wayne Mininger and Kim Reddin host an ag tour stop at Frisby Farms in Parma, Idaho, during the 2015 NOA summer convention.

Wayne Mininger and Tom Uriu, NOA’s 1991-92 president, review details and chart plans at the 1992 annual convention in Tucson, Ariz.

officers and others he’s worked with along the way. “They’re good, good people – people with the industry’s best possible outcomes in mind.”

“The most important link in an organization is the grower,” he adds. “The NOA’s reason for existing is the grower.

Whenever the grower is thriving, everyone in the industry is thriving.”

Mininger has always had a connection to agriculture and a respect for farmers. He grew up on a fruit, nut and vegetable farm in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

At 18, he moved to Colorado and started farming with his dad in Greeley, Colorado, around age 20. With the local vegetable industry thriving, the Miningers became intrigued with the onion business. They grew onions for 12 of the 16 years they farmed together prior to Mininger’s career at the NOA. As retirement nears, Mininger and his wife, Ardith, plan to build a small house in a forest east of Austin, Texas, and travel.

While he’s looking forward to all that retirement has to offer, he’s also excited to see what’s in store for the onion industry.

For 33 years, he has been motivated to highlight, promote and defend the U.S. onion industry, he says. Although his tenure with the association is coming to an end, his interest, desire and passion to see the onion industry succeed remain.

“I’m sure my wife and family fully expect that I’ll be muttering something about onions as they wheel me about a senior living center someday,” Mininger laughs.

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Growth Essentials Buyers’ Guide

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Proximus improves plant and soil health and is a sustainable liquid nitrogen solution.

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iNvigorate from Agrinos promotes the absorption of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and promotes a healthy soil microbial community. The product improves nutrient uptake by freeing up soil-bound nutrients, increases fertilizer use efficiency and aids in stronger root growth. It also rejuvenates the soil microbial community and increases soil organic matter. iNvigorate reliably improves yield and crop quality across a wide variety of soils, crops and growing conditions.

B Sure is a liquid nutrient solution from Agrinos. To support plant productivity in a variety of environmental conditions, B Sure contains carbon, nitrogen, true protein, amino acids and essential metabolic micronutrients. True protein is a source of highly bioavailable time-released nitrogen, complementing the activity of applied nitrogen. The micronutrient formulation helps build and support an active photosynthetic pathway. Carbon and essential minerals boost plant metabolism and stimulate plant and root growth. Free amino acids provide ready-made building blocks for protein synthesis.

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Onions get their characteristic flavor from the uptake of sulfur from the soil and require potassium to support the overall health of the plant, aid in drought resistance and affect bulb firmness and size. During the growing season, Protassium+ sulfate of potash (SOP) meets both of these nutrient needs with 17 percent sulfate sulfur and 50 percent potassium. Protassium+ is a premium potassium source that helps onions reach their full yield potential.

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Onion World • March/April 2019

Snow Takes Toll NOA/NARC With Products many onion packing houses New temporarily out of commission due to either a loss of onions or a loss of the means to pack, the supply chain was disrupted and onion prices increased in Germains has reformulated its conventional ProFlo treatment for onion seed. response. Prices nearly doubled following ProFlo is a heavy encrustment coating meant to help improve singulation when the disaster, but came back to near normal planted a vacuum seeder. by the end ofwith January as a result of Encrustments are said to maintain the seed’s natural shape while adding bulk and weight to the seed so that it flows through vacuum increased imports from Mexico, according planters with fewer skips and doubles. to Dwayne Fisher, vice president of The at new formula Produce. enhanced the encrustment’s integrity, reduced dust off and marketing Champion improved thewere accuracy final coated Packing lines downofforthea week and seed count per pound to meet growers’ planter specifications. a half at Champion Produce following the Visit www.germains.com. collapse of three of the company’s storage facilities – two in Parma, Idaho, and one in Wilder, Idaho. An estimated 8 million pounds of onions were lost.

Amid the devastation, Treasure Valley onion companies impacted by this winter’s weather are making plans to rebuild and be even stronger in the future, they said.

“At the end of the day, buildings and equipment are replaceable,” Myers said.

“Our concerns lie with our people: our This storage in Parma, Idaho, was the first of employees and our customers. The safety three Champion Produce onion storage facilities of our crew and the relationships with our to collapse under the weight of heavy snow in customers are far more valuable than any January. Photo courtesy Champion Produce shed.”

Germains Improves Seed Treatment

New Fungicide Receives EPA Approval

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has put its stamp of approval on AZteroid FC 3.3 fungicide, a new higher concentration formulation of Vive Crop Protection’s AZteroid FC fungicide. In onions, it is used to manage Rhizoctonia damping off, leaf blotches, powdery mildew, purple blotch, leaf blight, rust, Botrytis leaf blight and downy mildew.

AZteroid FC 3.3 has twice the concentration of its predecessor. Both fungicides use nanotechnology to allow active ingredients to mix well with liquid fertilizer, other chemicals, micronutrients and hard water, according to the company.

Visit www.vivecrop.com.

Approximately 3.6 million pounds of onions were in this Champion Produce storage facility when the roof caved in. Photo courtesy Champion Produce

Supplemental Calcium Product Hits Market

Oro Agri has introduced Encourage Nanocal, a liquid, soil-applied product designed to supply onions with readily available calcium during periods of bulb formation. The calcium carbonate particles are milled to an average size of 0.7 microns. This allows for quick uptake by the roots and rapid translocation throughout the plant, according to the company.

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Onion World • March/April 2017

OnionWorld.net

15

Trade Trends The Caribbean: Imports of Fresh Onions, Shallots

By Mark Wocial, Certified Global Business Professional, Wocial & Associates LLC

A

ccording to estimates found in the U.N. international trade statistics database, imports of fresh onions by countries in the Caribbean region increased from approximately 36,000 metric tons (MT) in 2010 to 46,000 MT in 2017, valued at $16 million. The Netherlands dominates the Caribbean onion trade. In the five-year period from 2013 to 2017, exports from the Netherlands accounted, on average, for 87 percent of the region’s imports. In 2017, Dutch exports reached 40,000 MT, valued at approximately $12 million. In contrast, despite geographic proximity, the U.S. exported only 1,500 MT, valued at $1.3 million. Between 2010 and 2017, U.S. exports showed no upward trend and averaged around 1,500 MT per year.

Haiti is currently the largest importer of onions in

the region. In 2017, the country imported 13,700 MT, and the Netherlands supplied over 90 percent of those imports. Between 2013 and 2017, annual U.S. exports to Haiti were very inconsistent and ranged from none to 10 MT. In 2017, Trinidad and Tobago was the second largest importer of onions in the Caribbean, and the country purchased an estimated 8,200 MT, supplied almost entirely by the Netherlands. The U.S. exported only 32 MT to the island.

Jamaica was the third largest import market, and the country purchased 7,700 MT, mostly from the Netherlands. There were almost no U.S. exports to Jamaica in 2017, and they averaged 6 MT annually in the five-year period from 2013 to 2017.

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Onion World • March/April 2019

largest onion importer in the region. The country imported 6,100 MT, primarily from the Netherlands.

Despite the fact that the U.S. has a free trade agreement with the Dominican Republic, U.S. exports averaged only 45 MT per year from 2013 to 2017.

The Bahamas is the largest market for U.S. onions in the Caribbean. In 2017, U.S. exports to the Bahamas amounted to 1,022 MT. The Cayman Islands were the second largest market (300 MT), followed by the Turks and Caicos Islands (44 MT),

Barbados (39 MT) and the British Virgin Islands (38 MT). In addition, U.S. onions were exported to Sint Maarten (22), Aruba (16 MT), Antigua and Barbuda (9 MT), Saint Lucia (4 MT), Dominica (4 MT) as well as to St. Kitts and Nevis (3 MT).

Author’s note: This information is based on the author’s analysis of the international trade data collected by the UnitedHaiti Nations International Trade Trinidad &and Tobago 8,200 Statistics Database the U.S. Census Bureau Jamaica 7,700 Foreign Trade Division.

Dominican Rep.

The Caribbean - Imports of fresh onions (MT) 50,000 40,000 30,000 20,000 10,000 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Total Caribbean imports

Imports from Netherlands

Imports from U.S.

6,100

Barbados The Caribbean - Largest importers 1,900of fresh onions in 2017 (MT) Bahamas 1,300 Haiti Saint Lucia Trinidad & Tobago Aruba Jamaica Curaçao Dominican Rep. Cuba Barbados 1,900 Bahamas 1,300 Saint Lucia 1,200 Aruba 1,200 Curaçao 900 Cuba 600

1,200

13,700

1,2008,200 900 7,700 6,100 600

Calendar The Caribbean - Largest importers of fresh

June 10-12 onions in 2017 (MT)

United Fresh 2019 Haiti Chicago, Ill. Trinidad & Tobago www.unitedfresh.org Jamaica

13,700 8,200 7,700 6,100

Dominican Rep. Barbados 1,900 1,300Allium Conference 2019Bahamas International Saint Lucia National Onion 1,200 Association, Aruba National Allium1,200 Research Conference, Curaçao 900 International Research Symposium Cuba Allium 600

July 24-27

Madison Concourse Hotel Madison, Wisc. www.onions-usa.org

Oct. 17-19

PMA Fresh Summit Convention and Expo Anaheim, Calif. www.freshsummit.com Editor’s note: To have your event listed, please email: Denise Keller editor@ColumbiaMediaGroup.com OnionWorld.net

17

Idaho and Malheur County Onion Growers Associations Annual Meeting

FRESH IDEAS

Story and photos by Dave Alexander, Publisher

T

he 59th annual meeting of the Idaho and Malheur County Onion Growers Associations was held Feb. 5 in Ontario, Oregon. This meeting is always a busy one. Growers know they have only one day to attend, and they make it a point to support the event. Over 350 registered attendees came out to hear speakers and flock to 57 booths.

The success of past years’ meetings undoubtedly encouraged the increase in vendors participating in the trade show.

The 2019 show added 11 booths from last year, forcing organizers to open up a previously unused room.

Emceed by Paul Skeen, Malheur County Onion Growers Association director-atlarge, the educational sessions featured university researchers, industry members and seed reports from Seminis and Nunhems. The meeting also had some new technology and fresh ideas.

Brad Bonny shows a Gearmore planting head to a meeting attendee.

The trade show portion of the Idaho and Malheur County Onion Growers Associations Annual Meeting expanded this year by 11 booths.

18

Onion World • March/April 2019

Ashley Southerland with BASF Nunhems updates attendees on the company’s showcase trial results. Yellow varieties Ranchero and Joaquin showed the largest yield cwt/acre.

Tom Corbet and Paul Skeen select a door prize winner. Prizes were donated by Nunhems, Seminis, Crookham Company, Gowan Seeds, Enza Zaden and the Idaho-Eastern Oregon Onion Committee.

Sniffing Out Bulb Rot

Brenda Schroeder with the University of Idaho gave a report on new research she has been doing in collaboration with biosystems engineers from Washington State University. Though more research needs to be done, Schroeder said the project may have a significant economic impact by reducing loss due to bulb rot in storage.

The essence of the project is a “sniff” test, using a microchip that is commonly called an “e-nose.”

“We are all very aware that we want to be able to detect bulb rots, the earlier the better. The reality is a large number of bulbs can go into storage showing no signs that will result in bulb rot during storage,” she explained.

But the pathogens could be there.

When rot is advanced enough, the odor produced is easy to detect. In Schroeder’s experiments, the e-nose detected bulbs inoculated with sour skin disease only three days after inoculation. The bulbs had no visible or olfactory symptoms.

This proposed solution for early rot detection uses field asymmetric ion mobility spectrometry (FAIMS), which is based on gas analysis that senses volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

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19

Idaho & Malheur Meeting

Ken Teramura (left) and Ray Winegar (right), the newest inductees to the Onion Hall of Fame, flank Paul Skeen.

Airflo Onion Topper

that are released during the rot process.

The technology is highly sensitive and Schroeder envisions it going into storage air systems, though there is a lot of work to do to get to that point.

“It allows for real-time analysis which would be very useful. If rot is starting to develop, it would be nice to know in the first month of storage as opposed to four months out when it’s completely rotted,” she pointed out.

Schroeder’s tests have proven the concept of FAIMS in the lab, but to really be an effective tool, FAIMS would have to identify a broad array of over 25 pathogens that can cause bulb rot in storage. Schroeder’s study only focused on Burkholderia cepacia, which causes sour skin. Work will be continuing on this project that would be very beneficial to growers.

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20

Metam sodium has been beneficial to growers for a long time, but application techniques are crucial to target specific pests because metam vapor pressure is very low. Tad Comer with NovaSource, the manufacturer of Sectagon soil fumigant, made this point at the meeting, saying,

Onion World • March/April 2019

“Metam is a lazy fumigant. It doesn’t like to move in the soil very much.”

Diseases are usually in the top 4 inches of soil, whereas weeds can go down to 12 inches deep, and nematodes can be 22 inches or farther below the soil surface.

Before fumigation, soil samples can be taken to figure out what type of nematode problem exists and how deep they are. In addition, precision application can be made with custom equipment. Photo-ionization detection (PID) equipment, such as the MiniRae 3000 that NovaSource uses in the field, can determine how far down metam has moved in the soil.

Comer said using a spader for Sectagon application is a great idea for onions under appropriate soil moisture conditions. This method can keep up to 90 percent of the fumigant above 10-inch penetration, well within the onion root zone, and it is also ideal for weed control.

Another critical factor in applying metam is irrigation. Growers will want to irrigate and “wake the soil up” to optimize respiration in diseases and germination for weed seeds prior to fumigation.

“It makes a massive difference on control,” Comer said.

Brenda Schroeder with the University of Idaho is working on an electronic “sniff” test to help control storage rot.

Greg Yielding, executive vice president of the National Onion Association, speaks at the luncheon.

Tad Comer with NovaSource explains that since metam sodium vapor pressure is very low, precision placement and optimal application conditions are critical.

Deron Beck gives attendees an update on Seminis varieties, including two new mid-days, Minister and SV0106NG.

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OnionWorld.net

21

From the NOA

Social Media: The Next Frontier

By René Hardwick, National Onion Association Director of Public and Industry Relations

W

hile print and traditional media products still command massive readership among older generations, the generations that follow you, your kids, possibly grandkids, are moving in a different direction. Their world is increasingly in their hand through a smartphone – that thing you’ve banned from the dinner table too many times to count.

While it can be annoying to those of us Gen-Xers, baby boomers and the Greatest Generation, combined, it’s a new frontier.

If you own a business, you need to pay attention not only to traditional forms of media for your marketing purposes – which still have a good 20 years left – but to online opportunities.

Millennials have finally surpassed the baby boomers as the largest generation in America, and they’re almost 100 percent online. So now you must also direct your attention to cyberspace and how you can reach that audience. Social media is quickly becoming a great additional tool to get messages out.

A Pew Research Center study of 2018 social media use showed some interesting statistics. According to Pew, “88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds indicate that they use any form of social media. That

22

Onion World • March/April 2019

share falls to 78 percent among those ages 30 to 49, to 64 percent among those ages 50 to 64 and to 37 percent among Americans 65 and older.” That’s a lot of people in cyberspace!

Other Pew findings included: • 73 percent of the public uses more than one of the eight platforms Pew measured.

• A typical American uses three social media sites.

• The median 18- to 29-year-old uses four platforms.

The National Onion Association (NOA) is working hard to be front and center with our message not only in traditional media, such as magazines and newspapers, but increasingly on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. We’re investigating adding Snapchat, as well.

Think about it. Facebook alone has 2.3 billion active monthly users. Instagram has 500 million active daily users and 100 million active monthly users, according to Statista, an online statistics portal. In one year, the number of active monthly Pinterest users is expected to reach 83.6 million, according to Statista.

The NOA has been “pinning” recipes on Pinterest for some time and has had a Twitter page (@Onionista) for a couple of years now.

This past year, we added Facebook and Instagram to the offerings. Our Facebook page is a great way to connect with other members of the NOA, learn of industry news, which we monitor and post often from the likes of Onion World and other media, and of course see our promotional efforts at work. In the nine months that we had a Facebook page in 2018, we gained 379 followers.

By the end of this year, we’d like to exceed 1,000. How we do that is by every one of our followers liking and following our content, then asking their friends to like and share our content. Then our message can go viral. If people take those messages – chiefly messages to eat more onions – maybe onion consumption will continue to rise. Oh, by the way, consumption rose 80 percent from 1982 to 21.9 pounds per person in 2017. Check in at www. facebook.com/nationalonion/ and give us a like.

Likewise, we started an Instagram page in the last six months of the year, gaining more than 200 followers. You can help us grow that to 1,000 by liking our Instagram offerings at www.instagram. com/nationalonionassociation.

YouTube is huge. This video sharing platform is where the NOA posts videos about onion growers, how-tos, recipes and just fun videos highlighting onions. Sending a little love our way by liking and sharing our YouTube content, and also subscribing to our channel, will again help spread the onion message. Just go to YouTube.com and search for National Onion Association in the search bar.

All of our social media postings are designed not only for some fun, but to drive traffic to the NOA website, where people can learn everything they want to know about onions – and of course, increase the nationwide consumption of onions. We are doing everything we can to get that message out – and social media has to play a role, now and in the future. It’s a “fad” or “craze” that is not going away. Why not come join us in this new frontier?

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