Walla Walla sweet onion yields are about 30% above average as harvest reaches the halfway point.

“That’s putting a little bit of pressure on the market, just because freight gets in the way of sending fresh onions farther,” said Michael J. Locati, president of the Walla Walla Sweet Onion Marketing Committee. “It’s kind of backed things up, so we’re taking the excess to processors.”

That’s not unusual, he said, but it would be nicer to sell the onions by retail.

Locati also raises wheat, corn, peas, spinach, kale, onion seeds and onion starts. Walla Walla sweet onions represent a third of his acres and 80% of his total business.

About 10 farmers are raising the niche onions on 400 to 500 acres.

Harvest began June 11 and will run through Aug. 11, Locati said.

High prices

“You go to the grocery store and a sweet onion’s $2 a pound,” Locati said. “The grower’s definitely not getting that, to be honest. The grower’s getting like 25 cents. It’s amazing how much the inflation changes after the grower, it seems like. The added middle men just add a lot more dollars to the product than what the grower really sees.”

It can present “sticker shock” for customers, Locati said: “They think, ‘Wow, a $2 onion — How many of those do I really want to buy?’ We can’t really go much lower… .”

Locati Farms sells Walla Walla sweet onions for about 80 cents per pound on its website.

Bigger crew

Locati typically employs about 40 to 50 field workers during harvest, This year, he’s up to 85 workers. He also has a full-time support crew year-round.

He attributes the increased numbers to a smaller cherry crop, which left workers looking for other options.

The bigger crew doesn’t really impact Locati’s bottom line.

“It’s beneficial because for my support crew, I’m saving on overtime because I have a big enough crew to get the bins I want and get out of the field, and try to do that in eight hours or less,” he said. “The faster I can get them in and out of the field, the less overhead I’m spending at harvest.”

Locati’s crew tries to harvest 600 to 800 bins a day, depending on orders.

Some years, his crew will harvest at 2 a.m. to avoid the heat of the day, but Locati expects to start at 4:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. this year, with the larger crew getting bins out of the field before the heat.

His farm is also able to take days off. Last year, he was harvesting each day, with a smaller crop and fewer crew members.

It’s a reflection of the market, how it’s moving this year and higher prices for fresh produce at stores, he said.

“We don’t need to harvest every single day — let’s keep them as fresh as possible,” he said. “Walla Walla sweets have only been in the stores for two weeks, and we’re taking days off. Yeah, it’s moving slow.”

Overall outlook

Locati was initially concerned about the onions amid a cold spring.

“It was actually a blessing,” he said. “We ended up not having as many bugs. We got some timely rains, which helped with irrigation… . Then we followed that up with some heat, and that kind of perked things up.”

Red Walla Walla sweet onions, called “rose,” which account for about 10% of the crop, should hit stores shortly, Locati said.