The main harvest and storage of onions in Lower Saxony is now approaching its peak. "We were going quite well, but we had to stop briefly at the end of week 36 due to the rainfall. We will probably continue again in the course of week 38. The situation in the fields is very varied: in the locations where it was possible to sow early, the crops generally look good, whereas on the wet soils, the crops have sometimes suffered badly due to late and adverse conditions. However, not only the soil type, but also the seed quality and soil cultivation are important factors that need to be taken into account here. All in all, it is difficult to make a concrete yield forecast. In any case, the total volume will be lower than last year," summarises Lüder Böhling, member of the board of Heide-Zwiebel AG.
According to statisticians, there has been a further increase in the area under onion cultivation in Germany compared to the previous year. Böhling: "However, I dare to doubt whether all of this has actually gone into the ground. In any case, Heide-Zwiebel AG has fewer onions in the field overall. Last year, however, we ended up harvesting more onions than initially expected, but we had more rejects due to increased quality problems. In other words, we had more gross, but less net yield." Considering the capricious weather conditions, onion cultivation was particularly challenging this year, Böhling continues. "Due to the powdery mildew pressure, we had to go to great lengths to keep our onions healthy over the summer."
Lüder Böhling is a member of the Management Board of Heide-Zwiebel AG and is responsible for marketing the onions to packers. The company will soon be putting a new condensation drying warehouse into operation.
Normally, the last storage onions are delivered at the end of May, but this year the season only ended on 12 June. The increased presence of ULO goods and imported onions has created pressure, which has led to a corresponding price reduction, says Böhling. Nevertheless, Heide-Zwiebel AG was able to place its agreed quantities accordingly. "Those who marketed their onions in winter were still able to benefit from the high price level. Farmers with large quantities of stored onions, on the other hand, lost money."
Lively day-to-day business
Meanwhile, the marketing of newly harvested onions is gradually picking up speed. "Demand from packers is good and stable, and day-to-day business is lively. Compared to the past two years, we were able to place significantly fewer graded goods in September 2022 and 2023 than this year, which is also partly due to the earlier start to the season. If we look at the grades, it is noticeable that there is less demand for coarse onions (70+) for the peeling companies. Otherwise, all grades are finding buyers, including the 70/90 grade for the wholesale markets. Due to the relatively favourable prices, we are now also exporting to Eastern Europe, unlike last year."
Red and organic onions
Heide-Zwiebel AG focuses primarily on the cultivation and sale of yellow onions. However, red and organic onions as well as shallots are also marketed. "Red onions make up around eight per cent of our total volume, and the quantities grown have remained almost constant for several years now. The domestic market is more or less saturated, which is why we would inevitably have to export goods if we were to expand our cultivation capacities. In addition, the storage of red onions requires a great deal of expertise. Shallots represent a very small segment, although we have a fixed customer for our volumes," explains Böhling. The company's product range is rounded off by organically produced onions. "Two of our growers have been producing recognised organic goods since this season, some of which we are allowed to market as association goods from this year onwards." Nevertheless, organic onions only represent 1-2 per cent of the total volume, the company concludes.
Photo credit: Heide-Zwiebel AG
For more information:
Lüder Böhling
Heide-Zwiebel AG
Flachskamp 25, Klein Süstedt
D-29525 Uelzen
Tel: +49 (0)581 973 550 50
[email protected]
www.heide-zwiebel.de