The National Onion Association’s summer convention is slated for July 6-9 in Boise.

The group sought a location that has not hosted the event in a while and has many growers, packer-shippers, seed companies and providers of onion-related equipment and services.

“Boise fit the bill,” said Greg Yielding, executive vice president and chief executive of the association. “There’s a lot of people with interest in the area.”

He expects attendance from around the region and the U.S.

Idaho, Oregon and Washington produce 75-80% of the country’s onions, he said.

The southwestern Idaho-southeastern Oregon growing region has 22,000-plus acres of onions and more than two dozen fresh-pack sheds.

“This is one of the premier growing areas,” said association trustee and past president Kay Riley, general manager of Snake River Produce in Nyssa, Ore. “So it will be great to welcome the industry here to see how we do things in the Treasure Valley.”

The Grove Hotel in downtown Boise will host the meeting. Yielding said visits to area farms, packing facilities and BASF Vegetable Seeds, near Parma, are planned.

He said USDA Market News and U.S. Food and Drug Administration representatives are among expected speakers. Topics are to include crop and market conditions, pesticide regulations and approvals, imports, foreign supplier verification, trade and compliance with water quality and other standards of the federal Produce Safety Rule.

The association is working on an update of its food safety guidance for dry bulb onions, to be presented at the meeting.

Yielding said he expects more than 100 people to attend, depending on COVID-19 issues at the time. Previous summer meetings in the Boise and Tri-Cities, Wash., areas were well attended, he said. The 2021 summer meeting was in Nashville.

A remote-attendance option is not planned.

The association is based in Eaton, Colo., and has about 500 members. Onions are grown commercially in more than 20 states.

Phone: 970-353-5895

Email: gyielding@onions-usa.org.