Onion Production Forecast Down Slightly from 2014

New York state's onion production is estimated to be down slightly from last year, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Agricultural Statistics Services estimates New York will see an onion crop of 2.31 million hundredweight (100 pounds), down 2 percent from the 2.36 million hundredweight in 2014.

Harvested acreage also is down, but yield per acre is projected to be up to an average of 335 hundredweight per acre from the 295 hundredweight per acre in 2014.

Nationally, 92,650 acres of onions are being harvested in 2015, compared to 93,200 in 2014.

Onions are primarily grown on muck soils found in Oswego, Orange, Orleans, Genesee, Madison, Wayne, Yates and Steuben counties. 

"The crop in general looked great so we should be on target for yields comparable to last year," said Jonathan J. Schell, agriculture team coordinator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County.