By Clint Thompson
Vidalia onion harvests are commencing across the Southeast Georgia region. Industry leaders are excited about the potential of this year’s crop.
At least that’s the mindset of Chris Tyson, University of Georgia Extension area onion agent at the Vidalia Onion & Vegetable Research Center in Lyons, Georgia.
“I think it looks really good. I’m excited, and the growers and industry are excited about it. We’ve already started the process of getting some of these onions out of the field. We’ve started digging some fields. We’ll start clipping some fields real soon, too,” Tyson said. “It’s just an exciting time. The crop looks really promising at this point. I feel like we’ve got a good crop out there. We’ll take it day by day and see how we go. Weather can always impact us at this point in the game. But right now we’re excited about it.”
Tyson’s assessment comes on the heels of a positive outlook from Cliff Riner, crop production manager for G&R Farms in Glennville, Georgia. He remained upbeat about the crop’s production despite a freeze event on March 13.
“It did cause a little bit of freeze burn or freeze injury to some of the tops, the foliage. We’re still watching that and have got that on our radar,” Tyson said. “We’re trying to mitigate any of that damage with our fungicide and bactericide sprays. We don’t want any of that to turn into something else or develop into disease. We’re just closely watching that right now. But so far it looks like we’re in pretty good shape.”
The Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Vidalia Onion Committee announced that April 12 will be the official pack date for the 2022 Vidalia onion season.
