When the harvest is over  

October 29, 2009

   Rob Wilson, farm adviser for the University of California, Davis cooperative extension in Tulelake, said mint crops have been harvested.

   “It was a pretty good year for mint this year with regards to yield and quality,” he said.

   For the most part, alfalfa and hay crops have been cut and baled with some farmers putting in winter grains, Wilson said.

   Some onions still in ground

   A few producers are still getting onions out of the ground, though, Wilson said.

   “I think it was a pretty good year for onions,” he said. Basin farmers grow onions for dehydration, which, unlike those purchased at the grocery store, have a hotter, more intense flavor, Wilson said.

   Onion producer Scott Seus said he still has 75 acres in the ground, ready to dig.

   “Our harvest is at the mercy of the company that is dehydrating them,” Seus said. “It’s a bad deal because at this point, we’re at a pretty high risk.”

   Seus said each day he is unable to get the onion crop out of the ground, the risk of precipitation increases as does the possibility the product will require more labor.

   “A part of being an onion producer is trying to harvest a clean crop,” he said. Mud and dirt that stick to the onions need to be cleaned off, often by hand, before it is delivered, he said. 

   Potato harvest

   The potato harvest, which lasted about five weeks, is 99.5 percent done, said Brian Charlton, a potato researcher with the Oregon State University extension office in Klamath Falls. The harvest window is often dictated by weather conditions, Charlton said.

   “You don’t want it too hot, then the tubers are more prone to black spot bruising and there’s more field heat to remove in storage,” he said. “On the flip side, you don’t want it too cold because that increases the chances of shatter bruising and field frost can be an issue.”

   Packing begins

   In Tulelake, the Newell Potato Cooperative, a marketing, packaging and shipping   cooperative began its first day of packing Monday, said General Manager John Cross. After a hiatus in September and October, the packing plant will run solid through August, he said.

   “We’ve got some gorgeous potatoes,” Cross said. Some producers were disappointed with yields, he said, with estimates 10 to 15 percent below average.

   “(Producers) like the crop, the only drawback is they didn’t have the yields they were   hoping for,” he said.

   Cross said although potato prices are currently depressed by early competition from Idaho crops, the yield nationwide doesn’t appear to be   much larger than last year.

   “If we can market smartly throughout the nation and Idaho doesn’t continue to depress the market, then prices should improve,” he said.