Walla Walla Sweets Harvest Pt 1

Walla Walla Sweets Harvest Pt 1

Bob Larson
Bob Larson
I'm Bob Larson. As the Walla Walla Sweet Onion harvest draws to a close for this year, growers have every reason to be pleased with the outcome. As yields continue to improve, grower Mike Locati says no one is complaining, but it might be a be careful what you wish for result ...

LOCATI ... "Yeah, yields from our transplants are just phenomenal, definitely record-breaking yields all across the board so we can't complain. I wish we could keep up with them. Obviously, onions just keep maturing and we're trying to push through with sales as they go, but you can only do so much. So, hindsight's always 20-20. We should have bypassed some fields and kept going, but we didn't and it is what it is. But, you know, we're very happy for the year."

But, Locati says it doesn't mean necessarily that they're growing MORE onions ...

LOCATI ... "I don't think we're growing more onions. I think definitely the acreage is down, but I think we're growing better onions. I think we've honed in on the varieties we like, on the onion that we like. We've spent a lot of time and money in developing the shapes, size and everything else that we want. So, I think we yield better than we used to. I think we store better than we used to, but as far as overall acreage, if you want to compare just acres to acres, there was a day when there was 12-hundred acres out here raised and now it's probably 500."

Listen tomorrow for more on this years Sweet Onion crop and some of the changes seen in the Sweet's evolution.

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