German growers are repeating this year with a significant increase in the acreage for seed onions. After difficult years in the cultivation of consumption potatoes, it is mainly the arable farmers who see the benefits of onion cultivation. Domestic demand offers enough room to absorb the extra volume.
The area of yellow seed onions last year was 11.900 hectares. That is slightly more than a year earlier, when seed onions were grown on 11.400 hectares. Since 2000, the acreage of onions in Germany has been on the rise. The cultivation grew by almost 60% in 20 years. Official acreage figures are not yet available for 2021, but the Fachverbandes Deutsche Speisezwiebel reports that 15% more seed has been sold compared to last year. If you extend this percentage to the area, it means an increase of 1.785 hectares.
No record
A total of 539.650 tons of onions were harvested from our eastern neighbors last year. In addition to yellow, also red seed onions, shallots and onion onions. Despite a dry growing season, the yield was good. In 2019, 521.890 tons were harvested. Only in 2011 were more tons of onions harvested. At that time it amounted to a good 588.000 tons.
Compared to the Netherlands – with more than 27.000 hectares of seed onions and 1,31 million tons of product – the German figures are still somewhat stark. Especially when you consider that Germany has 83 million inhabitants. It is therefore not surprising that the German onion market can handle this growth in area and volume. Sales prices have been good in recent seasons, which convinces growers. Many onions are still sold locally in the country. The corona pandemic had a positive effect on this sales channel.
Changing exports
The export of Dutch onions to Germany varies and is highly dependent on the own harvest. When this was significantly lower in 2018, Dutch companies exported more than 42.000 tons of product. A harvest year later, this dropped to just over 33.000 tons. The counter for the 2020 harvest year currently stands at 24.283 tons of onions. With 6 weeks of export left to go, the level of the previous harvest year will probably not be reached.
In addition to the export of onions, Dutch sorters also make good use of importing German products. When onion prices in Germany were at a lower level than ours at the end of last year, sorters bought onions in both Germany and Belgium. However, companies do prefer Dutch products if the price is favorable. As a result, German growers on the border also rent storage space in the Netherlands. This makes it easier to get 'the trade', in our experience.