By Clint Thompson
Harvests of early-season varieties of Vidalia onions are lagging behind compared to previous years. That could soon be problematic for growers as the season continues in Southeast Georgia.
Jimmy Cowart, who farms 430 acres in Toombs County, highlights the concern he has with certain onions not being fully mature this early in the harvest season.
“It’s been fairly challenging; size wise, profile in the field is a little different than normal years. We had to wait on small ones to make size before we started digging. We’re probably about a week behind where we normally would be,” Cowart said. “What you’re going to run into, the early varieties are going to be later coming off, and your mainstay varieties are going to be maturing at the same time. It’s going to bunch them all up. That’s what we’re afraid is going to happen. It all depends on what the weather does.
“The sooner you can get them out of the field, the better off you are.”
Cowart was one of more than 100 who attended the University of Georgia Vidalia Onion Field Day held in Lyons, Georgia on April 6. He stressed that he liked this year’s crop, especially considering the Christmas freeze event that occurred right after the crop was planted. It was the biggest challenge that the onion plants had to overcome this production season.
“So far, things look fair to decent. We’ve probably got 80% or 85% stand in most fields, some better. Overall, it’s pretty good for what it’s been through,” Cowart said. “We are thankful for what we’ve got. We’ve got one field that looked like it’s bare ground after that freeze, and they came back and had a good stand.”