Onion World: The Voice of the Onion Industry

Onion Storage

Oregon/Washington Grower
It was only the second over-wintering harvest season the onion grower had used his Shuknecht SP 132. Mid-June this year near Umatillia, Ore., was a windy harvest. Alan Cleaver watched his over-wintering onions come out of the ground with the new harvester and head into the storage building for curing.

Different companies have developed harvesting options. So far, Cleaver likes his choice because it consolidates the work load and allows him to cure the onions in his storage facility.

"There's a race for that onion to get dry before bacteria can get to the onion," he says. "The Shuknecht allows me to get into green onions earlier, get them into storage to cure."

Cleaver grows 1,100 acres total of whites, yellows, reds and storage onions.
-Onion World, Sept/Oct 2003, page 6-7.

Alan Cleaver at his onion storage in Paterson, Wash.

Energy Efficient Storage
Onion storages tend to be large energy users due to high airflow riates, burners and refrigeration systems. Improvements in energy efficiency can translate into significantly reduced power bills and storage costs.

In recent years, computers have revolutionized all aspects of agriculture, and storage systems are no exception. If a refrigeration system is not operating under microprocessor-based control, it is not operating at peak energy efficiency.
-Nathan Oberg, The Gellert Company, Onion World, November 2003, page 25.

Storage in New York
Onions are stored in common storage buildings equipped with roof vents and side vents. Some storage buildings are equipped with automatic ventilation systems that help to regulate temperature and humidity levels in the storage, but in the majority of cases temperature and humidity levels are manipulated through opening and closing doors and operating ventilation fans by the grower himself.

In Oswego County, there is only one bulk storage building, and it is not in use this year because of the light crop.
-Jan van der Heide, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County, Onion World, July/August 2003, page 19.

Utah Storage Losses
Weather played a major role in the huge storage losses many Utah onion growers experienced during the 2002-03 marketing season.

Speaking during the Utah Onion Association Winter Meeting Feb. 18 at the Comfort Inn in Ogden, Dr. Dan Drost noted that poor curing weather—untimely rains during September—were largely responsible for the storage losses the majority of onion growers witnessed in their onion crops.
-Brent Clement, managing editor, Onion World, February 2003, page 13.