By Clint Thompson
Chris Tyson, University of Georgia (UGA) Extension area onion agent, is optimistic about this year’s Vidalia onion crop halfway through the season. That optimism speaks volumes considering the weather challenges that have threatened production this year.
“We’ve had several obstacles in our way this year. First was Hurricane Helene which caused some plant losses and stand losses on our beds. We tried to plant more onions to make up for some of those losses. We had some heavy rains in November that caused some delays and some disease issues on the seedbeds, and we get snow and cold weather in January,” Tyson said. “Overall, I think the onions have come through it nicely. I think the crop looks good especially considering all it’s been through.
“We’ve got another couple of months to go, but I think we’ve got good potential at this point. Everything looks pretty good especially considering what it’s been through. We’re going to do what we can do to try to protect what we’ve got and make the best out of what we’ve got.”
UGA statistics after the September hurricane estimated growers lost about 30% of the plants that were planted at the time. Most producers planted additional plants to offset those losses.
Tyson also believes the historic snowfall in late January helped insulate the plants from the colder temperatures observed over multiple days.
Disease Management
While weather challenges played a pivotal role through the first half of this year’s onion season, disease management will be the key over the next couple of months.
“From my standpoint, (the biggest concern moving forward is) probably disease. That’s what I work with a lot any way is disease,” Tyson said. “We’ve just got to protect the crop from disease, whether it’s center rot or downy mildew or something else. We just have to take care of it and do the best we can.”