Actually, it isn't always Laz. I have it on good authority that Darks is responsible for the damage to the onion crop. Something about trying to cross-pollinate with Mexican green onions. 
Posted on 01/13/2004 3:13:32 PM PST by billorites
ALBANY, Ga. - Researchers are scrambling to identify a mystery disease that has emerged for the first time as a threat to Georgia's $75 million crop of Vidalia sweet onions.
Tests are being conducted on lesions that have started appearing on the leaves of onion plants in seed beds. Scientists are trying to find out whether they have a unique cause or are related to tomato spotted wilt virus, which has plagued Georgia peanuts and tobacco, or iris yellow spot virus, which has damaged onion crops in South America and the northwestern United States.
"This is the first year it's come to our attention," said Reid Torrance, a University of Georgia extension coordinator in Tattnall County, the state's largest Vidalia-producing county. "It's also the first year we've tested for it."
Onion seeds are planted in beds starting in September. When the plants are large enough, usually in November and December, they are replanted in fields.
Georgia's 134 registered Vidalia growers harvested 12,500 acres of onions last year. There are no official estimates yet for this year's crop, but experts believe it could be larger than in 2003.
The disease does not appear to be any of the typical bacterial or fungal diseases that attack onions, Torrance said Monday.
Glennville grower Delbert Bland, who had to replant 200 acres because of the problem, believes a virus is to blame.
He emphasized, however, that once the causes is known, possibly in a week or two, growers can take measures to curb it.
"It's one of those things that, if you ignore it, you can have a crisis," he said. "If you go out there and treat it and do a good job, you can overcome it."
Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin said the disease has created a "serious situation" and his department would do all it could to prevent its spread.
Vidalia onions are available in May and June, fresh from the fields. Some onions are stashed in atmosphere-controlled warehouses to extend the season through October. During the offseason, some growers import sweet onions from Peru and other Latin American countries so they can market onions year-round.
Farmer Moses Coleman started Georgia's onion industry near Vidalia, about 80 miles west of Savannah, in 1931 when he noticed that his first crop was unusually mild. Other growers joined in and began promoting the sweet onions with a campaign that said you could "eat 'em like an apple."
___
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Fewer winter wheat acres have been planted nationwide, a decline led by Kansas, where farmers seeded less of their parched land into wheat, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites) said Monday.
Kansas farmers planted 9.9 million acres of hard red winter wheat, down 500,000 acres — or 5 percent — from the previous crop.
"We were anticipating something similar to last year's acreage — given the price, given the farm program," said Eddie Wells, a statistician for Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service. "It surprised us, that is for sure."
Some of the areas showing the biggest declines in the state were hard-hit by drought — northwest Kansas, west central Kansas and southwest Kansas.
Nationwide, wheat acres are down 3 percent to 43.5 million acres. Hard red winter wheat accounted for 31 million of those acres, down 4 percent from a year ago.
Acreage declines are reported in the southern Great Plains states, where moisture supplies remain low, the agriculture department said. The Texas High Plains received only 54 percent of normal rainfall between August and October.
While widespread showers in September and October helped improve soil moisture in Kansas, it was still drier than needed for planting. By Nov. 30, KASS was listing topsoil moisture as short to very short in 65 percent of the state.
Talk about making lemonade out of lemons (to mix a metaphor)... here we have a strain of onions that (whether by natural selection or by scientific breeding, I have no idea) has no taste. None!
But instead of writing off the crop as worthless, the wiley farmers marketed them as "sweet" or "mild" -- and not only that, they charged twice as much as for onions that actually taste like onions.
Barnum was right.
For cooking where you want a strong flavor, regular onions are better, but for hot dogs, hamburgers etc. the vidalias are much better.
They are excellent raw in salads. If most people agreed with you, they couldn't command a premium price. Some people even order them through the mail.
I'm told they're virtually the same strain as the "Maui Onion"...
Actually, it isn't always Laz. I have it on good authority that Darks is responsible for the damage to the onion crop. Something about trying to cross-pollinate with Mexican green onions.
No, definitely not.
I see at work here the shadowy hand of Anwar Islam Al-Shallot.
I do think the flavor was affected by the South Georgia soil and climate.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.