Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
George
Boyhan, Extension Horticulturist-Vegetables
East Georgia Extension Center
Nessmith-Lane Building, 2nd Floor
PO Box 8112
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-681-5639 | 912-681-0376, Fax | 912-682-3481,
mobile
This year's onion harvest was later than in previous seasons. We didn't do our first harvest at the Vidalia Farm until April 25, 2005. In contrast, our 2004 first harvest was on April 5. We did not get to the last of our onions until earlier this week. As in the past, these later harvested onions had problems with warm weather bacterial diseases, which made for a messy job of grading.
Acreage was down this year from the previous year, which also included losses of close to 1,000 acres due to a hail storm in Wayne County. Based on The Packer, prices have not been that strong, at least not as strong as I would have thought considering the lower acreage. Prices, I expect, will rebound as growers get into stored onions.
This is the first year we have used the new warehouse at the Vidalia Farm. We had the grader moved into this building, which has helped streamline the process. We can move onions directly from the dryers into this warehouse through one door and load samples out through another.
This year for the first time we are using a private lab to handle our pungency (pyruvate) testing. Dr. Bill Randle has indicated he was most appreciative, since this frees up his lab. We are also having the onions taste-tested in Dr. Rob Shewfelt's lab in Athens. I look forward to seeing how the onions fare this year.
I should have the variety trial results together in the next week or two and will share them at that time.
In cooperation with Georgia Organics and Clemson University, we are planning on having a field day at the Vidalia Farm later this month or early next month. This field day will highlight some of our work in organic production as well as demonstrations on production practices and composting. No date has been selected for the field day but, as in the past, we will probably have a twilight field day with a sponsored supper.
I am very excited about this event because it will be the first cooperative effort in this area among these organizations. The University of Georgia and Clemson University have received a grant investigating composting, which I am a cooperator on. In addition, Georgia Organics has a grant to educate organic growers about conservation tillage.
I have also been asked to give a presentation on heirloom vegetable varieties at a Vegetable Gardening Symposium in Athens. That should be a fun outing.
Well, Darbie Granberry has left us for better things, retiring the end of May. He was a great help to me in getting my program started. We will continue to cooperate on projects, most notably the new pumpkin variety Darbie, Gerard Krewer and I have been working on.
As soon as I get the onion trial results together, I will be sending out my newsletter again.
Talk to you next month.