This year's winter onion harvest has already ended in Marchfeld in Lower Austria. "Due to the weather, this year's harvest was rather below average, which is why we were only able to export modest quantities - especially class II batches to Romania - with corresponding price concessions," reports onion producer Thomas Mazzucato, owner of the company of the same name based in Raasfdorf. However, at around ten hectares, winter onions only represent a small part of his total onion production of around 80 hectares. "Our summer onions are doing quite well, although we are also confronted with high powdery mildew pressure on one or two plots."
Onion production in Lower Austria.
Austria has been one of the most important onion exporting countries in Europe for many years. "The Dutch onion industry has specialised in exports by ship, especially overseas, while we export our onions primarily to Eastern and Southern Europe, thanks in part to our ideal location in the heart of Europe. However, the export situation varies greatly: in the 22/23 season, for example, extremely high prices were achieved. In the past 23/24 season, the price level was still good at the beginning, but prices halved within a few weeks in February, partly due to speculation, which is actually very atypical for the time of year." In general, Austrian onions continue to be highly valued in Europe due to their good quality, observes Mazzucato.
Thomas Mazzucato.
Difficult carrot season, successful asparagus campaign
In addition to onions, the basic range of the family-run vegetable farm also includes carrots, strawberries, asparagus and industrial potatoes. Mazzucato: "When it comes to carrots, we focus exclusively on growing storage carrots, although we also source early carrots from regional partners, which are harvested at the beginning of June. There was a shortage of produce across the board in the 23/24 season, which is why we marketed our last storage carrots in May. This is due to several factors, such as a decline in acreage and the extreme weather conditions. To bridge the gap, we then offered our Austrian food retail customers Italian imported carrots."
Marchfeld onions.
The flagship of the Marchfeld vegetable-growing region has always been asparagus. "The first early asparagus was available on 12 March this year, earlier than ever before," says Mazzucato. Due to the record-early start to the season, the campaign also had to end around two weeks earlier (around 10 June). Overall, however, the vegetable producer can look back on a successful asparagus season. "We had ideal weather conditions throughout the season and were spared hail and extreme heat, which unfortunately was often not the case in previous years. Demand and prices were also consistently good." Green asparagus accounts for around a third of asparagus cultivation, and the trend is rising.
The asparagus field.
Asparagus cultivation on the upswing
Overall, Mazzucato is confident about the future, which is partly due to the variety of products. "We have continuously expanded our onion operations in recent years. In order to grow further, we would have to invest in our capacities again, such as warehouses and plant technology. We currently have no plans to do so. The cultivation capacities for both carrots and potatoes have remained almost the same in recent years. In asparagus, on the other hand, we were able to increase our acreage by around 15 per cent last year alone."
For more information:
Thomas Mazzucato
Mazzucato GmbH & Co KG
Lange Feldgasse 4
2281 Raasdorf, Austria
T +43 2249 89380
M +43 664 465 91 61
F +43 2249 89380 20
[email protected]
www.mazzucato.at