The commercially significant packing date for Vidalia onions of April 17, 2024 will coincide with rising onion acreage in south Georgia, U.S.

Georgia’s Vidalia Onion Advisory Panel selected the date after careful soil and weather measurements to determine maturity timing.

The 2024 harvest has the same timing as last year’s but boasts 11,000 acres, a thousand more than in 2023.

Such increase in area may rally the output of Georgia’s number one vegetable, whose production decreased by 15% in 2023.

Multi-variety onion production in 2023 was 232 million pounds while the utilized production value was $159,000.  Despite falling below the 2022 margin, the 2023 revenue was however higher than the benchmark value in 2015 worth $138,000. 

Much of this income derives from Georgia’s short-season Vidalia onion variety.

Price, Acreage & Costs Rise

Acreage and price seem to have appreciated together in the past 9 years. 

The total area under Vidalia onions is nearing 12,000 acres thanks to advanced cold refrigeration that allows storage of the surplus. 

In its part, the price of this sweet onion has almost doubled from rising costs of production between 2015 and 2024.

During the 2015-16 season, a 40-pound pack of Vidalia onions was worth from $15 to $19, against 2024’s $35. Nationally, U.S. onions average up to $1.75 a pound.

This also indicates that the Vidalia variety is more expensive than other onion cultivars that grow in Georgia. For instance, the cost in 2015 of red jumbo onions was just $8 per 25-ib pack. 

Factors that contribute to the rising expenditure include production and post-production spending as well as licensing fees. 

Estimates by University of Georgia put production expenditure at around $1,520 per acre, while post-production eats up $2,923.

Licensing fees for growing this state-branded onion vary with the size of a farm. Farmers also have to register for the April 17 onion sale before March 1 to avoid a late registration penalty of $1000.

History of Vidalia Onions

As the most popular onion variety in Georgia and the United States, these onions have a rich history.

The first person to grow Vidalia onions was Mose Coleman at Toombs County, South Georgia in 1931. 

Because of their mild quality, his short-season bulbs immediately became a hit with Depression period consumers. This is despite the fact that they cost a fortune by 1930s standards, at $3.50 per 50 pounds. 

Owing to perennial commercial appeal, it was inevitable that Georgia’s farmers’ committee should register the trademark Vidalia Onion in 1986.

To date, 20 counties in South Georgia have licenses to farm the sweet bulbs after passing soil test requirements.