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March 13, 2015 CapitalPress.com 17 Onions provide farm with steady income By LACEY JARRELL For the Capital Press Farms producing crops in uncertain markets can help stabilize their income by contracting with food processing companies, ac- cording to Dan Chin, owner of Chin Farms in Klamath Falls, Ore. “I’d rather do potatoes, but onions give us diversifi- cation that keeps us in busi- ness,” he said. Chin, who also owns Wong Potatoes, said 20 years ago his family farm decided to try its hand at onions and contracted with two food processing corpo- rations that produce dehy- drated onions for flakes and powder. Chin said that his grand- father started farming pota- toes in the Klamath Basin in the 1930s. He said the family has always grown fresh-market potatoes — in- cluding 16 varieties of red, yellow, russet, purple, white and fingerling — but the market has a lot of ups and downs. Lacey Jarrell/For the Capital Press Dan Chin, of Chin Farms in Klamath Falls, Ore., has steadied his farm’s income by cultivating hundreds of tiny black onion seeds into onions that are processsed into flakes and powder. because they are pre-con- tracted for volume and price. Now, onions make up 15 percent of his operation’s in- come. Chin said the varieties he grows are developed by the food processing companies he contracts with, but they are typically small onions with big flavor. “It’s really hot, but when you cook it, it takes the hot- ness off,” Chin said. The varieties also pro- duce a lot of solids, meaning more of the flesh transforms into flakes. Chin plants onions in 36-inch beds, four lines per bed. The tiny purple-and- black onion seeds — about the size of peppercorns — are pneumatically deposited one-half inch in the ground about 2 inches apart, he ex- plained. Chin said he is looking to bump up production next year by adding another line, for a total of five. Instead of making two side-by-side beds, he explained, the cen- ter tire track will be elim- inated to make one wider bed. Although contracted onions produce a reliable paycheck, they aren’t with- out challenges, according to Chin. He said onions are tougher to grow than many other crops because “you have to babysit them.” “They are really hard to get started because you start from a true seed,” he said. In addition, for onions — a slow-growing crop — weed control is critical during the first half of the six-month season. Onions grow vertically and weeds can easily outcompete them. Onion maggots pose an- other challenge — they live on stubble left from the pre- vious year’s crop and bur- row into the soil to eat on- ion seeds. Chin noted that part of having a contracted crop like dehydrated onions means harvest starts when the food processing companies call for onions — sometimes the onions are fully mature, sometimes they aren’t. “We start harvesting when the company is ready for us,” Chin said. If the onions are coat- ed with soil and dirt clods, he may lose a percentage of the contracted price, but if the crop is clod-free and high quality, he may receive a bonus. “They are looking for a good quality onion,” he said. “It’s pretty labor inten- sive, but it can be a pretty rewarding crop if you get a good yield.” “Probably more downs than ups,” Chin said. He began looking for a contract crop to help level that out. Chin said the on- ions provide more stability SECURITY SEED SERVICES • Forage • Turf • Vegetables • Reclamation Seed • Contract Production Contract Production for 2015: ORGANIC: Peas, Fava Beans & Oats NON-ORGANIC: Oats, Annual Ryegrass & Flowers Steve Rusconi Cell (503) 910-0575 Salem, OR Fax (503) 540-0726 steve@securityseedservices.com S15-5/#7 S15-7/#7 S15-2/#4X
