Life lessons, layered like an onion

by Matthew Weaver<br>Herald Staff Writer
| August 15, 2006 9:00 PM

Growers compare, contrast cultivars at educational event

ROYAL SLOPE — On the surface, there might not appear to be very much to Onion Field Day.

The annual event, put on by the Washington State University Grant-Adams Area Extension and the Pacific Northwest Vegetable Association, is essentially an opportunity for growers and sellers to come together and compare 45 cultivars of onion adapted for production in the Columbia Basin and due to be available on the market, as extension educator Mark Trent said.

"This gives the growers a chance to contrast and compare newer varieties with the old standards, and look for improvements of their crop," he said. "WSU Extension is out here working with the vegetable producers and all the agriculture here in the Basin. We're here to help and if any of the producers or any of the industry needs our help, we're willing to help out."

But much like the cultivars participants arrived to check out, the event Friday morning on the Royal Slope, has many layers to it. And tucked within the event, perhaps one can even find some truth to carry with them throughout the rest of their life.

1. There is camaraderie amongst competitors. "It's a big chance for everybody to get together and kind of do some networking, see what's going on, as well as the value of comparing the cultivars," Trent said.

Breeding company employees David Whitwood and Rich Pollard were on hand to evaluate the varieties of their respective companies, and see how well anything else is performing in the area.

"I think we look forward to it to get feedback from the industry, to compare our material to other companies' material," Pollard said. "But it's the interaction with the industry as the whole."

"Hopefully, you'll have some winners, and you'll answer some questions," Whitwood agreed. "Every year, you go into the spring not knowing how some of these varieties are going to perform, especially some of the new ones, and an opportunity like this, this time of the year, you get two weeks to actually come through and look at stuff, and see how things are looking."

2. Pause to let the rocks out of your shoes. The stretch of dirt between the onions and the road was soft and powdery, to such a degree that Trent had to remove his shoes and let a few little pebbles fall out.

3. Thrips are bad. "Not only in the Pacific Northwest but nationwide, thrips seem to be the biggest production issue concerning onion producers," Trent said of the insect pests. "It is a big and growing concern."

4. Everything in moderation. Benton and Franklin counties-area extension educator Tim Waters said onion thrips were voted as the top problem in onion production.

"There are not a lot of good chemicals out there that control thrips well, and the ones that do tend to get overused a little bit," he said, hoping to convey to growers the need to rotate pesticide chemistries as frequently as possible, and suggest use of some of the newer chemistries which are softer on beneficial insects. "Thrips can develop resistance issues quickly. That means you go in and make an application, and maybe the first time you control 90 percent of the population, but there is a small percent that is resistant to the chemical. Then those thrips breed, and you build up a bigger population that's resistant."

5. Wider necks are better. Waters finds it interesting to see how the varieties perform in different regions. One variety might perform differently within 40 miles.

"Some of the varieties, depending on the structure of the plant, the neck of the onion, a wider open-necked onion will be less susceptible to thrips than the tight, closed-necked variety," Waters said, noting the insecticide can get down into the wider neck varieties better than the closed-neck varieties.

6. The year was all right for onions. "It seems like we're having a good year," Trent said. "Some of the fields, the onions look small, but a lot of the size depends on the actual grower's market. So just because you walk into a field and some of the onions look small, the grower may have intentionally produced those in a small size. It depends on his market, and whether they're looking for the big colossals, the mediums or the jumbos. They try to produce to fit the market."

7. Except when it was difficult. Pollard and Whitwood agreed the year was pretty difficult for onion producers, with issues like weather conditions, disease and insect pressure.

"Probably the next couple of years, I would imagine we'll be in that same boat," Whitwood said.

8. Even vegetables need support. It was the introduction to onions for WSU's new phytobacteriologist Brenda Schroeder, who has worked in the past with such crops as peas, beans, ginseng, alfalfa and clover. She was on hand to learn about the different cultivars and the different problems onions face, particularly bacteria, and see how disease symptoms might look in the field.

"I'm going to be looking at bacterial problems that affect Washington state," Schroder said, noting the vegetable area has a tremendous amount of bacterial problems, due to lack of a bacteriologist to work with extension and research pathologists. "This is now a critical time to start looking at what are our new and emerging disease problems, pay attention to them, and address those problems before they become a major problem."

9. People come from all over for the event. Trent said that the event typically draws in 90 to 120 participants.

"They come from all parts of the northwest, and sometimes we even have international attendants," he said.

Variety presenter Akio Suzuki operates in the United States, but he was with Tomo Kondo and Takhiro Ono, who have attended the event from their company's base in Japan for at least eight years.

"Eventually we'd like to sell our seed here, and this is a very good place to evaluate varieties," Suzuki said, noting his varieties have done well in the past. "We like to see our varieties, how they are performing compared to other companies, our competitors … This is a good place to discuss with sales people, we don't sell directly, we ask other seed companies to sell. This is a good time to see those people."

10. "The best part of the story is lunch." So said Pollard, standing in discussion with Whitwood. Several of the people behind the event also considered the barbecue lunch following the event a highlight.

PNVA executive secretary Sheri Nolan has been in attendance for the event for the past 12 years. Asked what she enjoys about it, she noted with a grin, "the barbecue," before adding she sees the participants at the day twice a year, at the field day and at the association's annual November convention.

"I like the barbecue," Trent said with a laugh, before noting the biggest value is getting to know the onion industry.