A family business Brian Stanley, RT's oldest son, says he takes pride in the growth of the onion industry and his family business. The Stanleys have been farming onions for 20 years. Both large and small growers tell success stories linked to the CA units. Since the price for onions progressively increases as the season progresses, farmers can make more money for each 50- pound bag of onions than their counterparts who sell only during the regular harvest season. But, farmers need to be more concerned with quality than technology, researcher Smittle says.
Quality does change over storage, but change is going down.
Today and tomorrow Smittle warns that people in the onion industry need to look for innovative ways to market onions and enhance the marketing season. In addition, since farmers can store onions longer, they need more laborers to harvest larger crops. Vidalia Onions, which bruise easily, must be harvested mostly by hand and treated with care during grading and packing. Stanley Farms employs around 200 laborers in the field and 40 after harvesting and in storage season, Brian says, and the farm relies heavily on migrant workers. Some farms had problems with employing illegal workers, she says, and the U.S. Border Patrol picked up illegal immigrants at some farms.