Onion World: The Voice of the Onion Industry

Craig Yano

His Drip-Irrigated Onions Exhibit Stamina Under Severe Thrips Challenge

Onion World
September/October 2005

Is drip irrigating onions cost effective?

It depends on the year, admits Craig Yano, who farms north of Ontario, Ore., on the Oregon Slope. This year the payoff appears to be there, but last year most onion growers in the area found it difficult even paying their bills. The financial returns on their onions simply were not there.

Yano has approximately 250 acres in onions this year, and about one-third of those are under drip. There are both spring-seeded and overwintering onions, 200 and 50 acres, respectively. This is his fifth season of growing at least part of his crop under drip irrigation.

Thrips pressure is extremely high in the Treasure Valley this year, and Yano’s onion fields have not escaped the invasion. However, in early August, the drip-irrigated segment of his crop was showing less signs of stress than the conventionally irrigated portion.

Noticeable Difference
“There is a noticeable difference in these fields,” Yano says. “Drip irrigation is particularly helpful during periods of hot weather, when the temperatures climb into the high 90s and above.

Drip-irrigated fields are more likely to get the moisture needed. Our onions grown under drip are more uniform and, generally speaking, have superior foliage. The differences are obvious when you drive by and compare fields.

“Thrips seem to gravitate to onions that are under stress,” he adds, pointing to hot spots in a field of conventionally irrigated onions being grown nearby. “There are times when it can be difficult achieving a uniform irrigation. You may have too much water in one area and not enough in another. It is almost impossible to obtain a completely uniform irrigation.”

Yano also uses his drip system to chemigate. He applies pesticides and fertilizers. Drip has added a helpful tool to his portfolio of options.

Portable in nature, Yano’s drip system also can be moved from field to field. At the end of each season, everything is packed up and moved to wherever it is needed for the following production season.

“With drip, we haven’t varied our plant population from our furrow-irrigated onions,” Yano explains. “We have modified the spacing between the rows a little bit to get the onions closer to the tape, but we haven’t gone to what some refer to as high density beds. So, in each 42-inch bed, we lay one piece of tape down the middle and try to bury it two to three inches deep just prior to planting. Then, after laying the tape, we come back and plant two double rows on each bed. The balance of the drip system—main lines, pump and filter stations—are installed after planting in time for the first needed irrigation.

“Later in the fall, when we’re finished, we pull out the pump and distribution lines and then, prior to lifting the crop, we go through with a special machine that pulls and rolls up the tape in preparation for disposal. Once that’s done, we follow conventional methods of lifting and mechanically harvesting the crop.”

The onions are harvested with a TopAir mechanical harvester.

More Drip Irrigation Ahead?
Is more drip planned for the future?

Much depends upon the economics, Yano acknowledges, but he envisions 50 to 60 percent of his onions eventually under drip.

“During water-short years in particular, there can be a significant water savings,” the grower says. “While the actual cost of water is not as big an issue for us, at least at present, drip allows you to nearly double the amount of acreage grown under a gravity system. So, when you see that 40 acres of onions can be grown with the same amount of water previously needed for about 20, that gets your attention. You definitely begin to see the advantages.”

One of the major side challenges has been trying to determine the right amount of fertilizer for each field and the particular varieties grown, he admits.

Is there a learning curve with drip?
“Most definitely,” Yano admits. “During the recent NOA meeting here in Ontario, I was talking with a grower from Washington, and we both agreed that with drip, the more you get involved with it, the less you know.”

Yano is one of four children raised by Shero and Miyako Yano on their family farm in the Treasure Valley area. He graduated from Weiser High School in Weiser, Idaho, in 1979 and later in 1984, he earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural engineering at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Ore. Following college, he worked for nine years in the Portland, Ore. area as a mechanical engineer. His first jobs were in design and manufacturing engineering. He started off working for a heavy equipment company and then moved into the high tech industry.

“My last job required a fair amount of traveling which I enjoyed in the beginning but didn’t look forward to long term,” Yano says, remembering the earlier years. “I got married in 1988, and after our first daughter was born, I didn’t like being separated from my family that much.”
By and by, he told his dad that he was interested in coming back to farm. “So, in 1993, we returned to the farm,” Yano adds. “Dad semi-retired over the next couple of years, and we have been here since.”

Today, the entrepreneur and his sister, Penny, remains involved in the family enterprise. Craig manages the farm as well as a small orchard and packing shed—a converted fruit shed—while Penny provides financial advice and support. In addition to onions, the family also grows potatoes, winter and spring wheat and a small acreage of plums. Apples, part of their operation in the past, are being discontinued because of exceptionally poor market returns.

The Yanos continue to pack plums from the family orchard as well as neighboring growers. “We bring in plums from throughout the area—Wilder-Parma, Emmett and Payette, Idaho,” the grower says. “Plum packing begins in early August, and then we move into onions. The operation winds down by early March.”

700-800 Acres under Production
Today, the Yanos farm 700 to 800 acres each year. In addition to onions, their crop rotation includes potatoes (approximately 40 acres this year) and both winter and spring wheat. In addition to their own shed, their onions are packed and sold through other local sheds via preseason contracts with processors such as Dickinson Frozen Foods, McCain and others.

“Our packing shed is small, and we’ve only been at it four or five years,Yano says.

Yano and his wife, Diana, have two daughters, Allison, 13, and Jennifer, 12.

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