Why prices are moving
Well above normalWhy are onion prices falling right now?
mostly $12.00 per 50 lb sack FOB, Nov 4, 2026, at the benchmark spec. The market has fallen 6 straight weeks.
Data through Nov 4, 2026 · source last checked Nov 5, 2026 · page revised Nov 5, 2026
Cite
- Comparison midpoint
- USDA mostly / low-high range
About this data
- Source
- USDA AMS shipping-point onion FOB reports (FV130)
- Series
- Yellow jumbo onions, 50 lb sacks, Idaho-Eastern Oregon, FOB
- Basis
- FOB shipping point, low-high range
- Geography
- Idaho-Eastern Oregon
- Unit
- $/50 lb sack
- Last observation
- Nov 4, 2026
- Update frequency
- USDA reports on business days, in season
The benchmark (yellow jumbo, 50 lb sacks, Idaho-Eastern Oregon) is quoted at mostly $12.00 per 50 lb sack and has fallen 6 consecutive weeks, down 25.0% on the comparison midpoint since Sep 23, 2026. Idaho and Oregon shipped 678 units of 10,000 pounds on Nov 3, 2026 (USDA movement). 4 origins are currently quoting FOB prices. The market is in the heart of the storage season, drawing on the Northwest crop put away at harvest.
Mostly $12.00 per 50-lb sack, down 6 consecutive weeks and 25.0% from the Sep 23 comparison midpoint. The market sits in the heart of the storage season, with the Northwest crop flowing steadily; Idaho and Oregon shipped 678 units of 10,000 pounds on Nov 3.
| Period | Current | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week over week | $12.00 | $13.00 | -7.7% |
| Month over month | $12.00 | $15.00 | -20.0% |
| Year over year | $12.00 | $6.75 | +77.8% |
| vs 5-yr median | $12.00 | $9.00 | +33.3% |
Previous weeks
An earlier week
Mostly $12.00-13.00 per 50 lb sack, the benchmark has fallen 6 consecutive weeks through November 3, down 21.9% since September 22, as the storage season builds volume. Prices remain 38.9% above the five-year median and 92.3% above last year, a correction from elevated levels rather than demand weakness. Idaho-Eastern Oregon shipped 633 units on November 2, with demand absorbing seasonal supply at lower price points.
An earlier week
Mostly $12.00-13.00 per 50 lb sack, the benchmark has fallen 21.9% on the comparison midpoint since Sep 22, 2026, marking six consecutive weeks of decline. At the 5-year median of $9.00 per 50 lb sack, the current level sits 38.9% above normal. The market is drawing on the Northwest storage crop put away at harvest, with four origins currently quoting FOB prices.
Week of Oct 30, 2026
Benchmark mostly $13.00, 50-lb sacks, has fallen 5 consecutive weeks, down 18.8 percent on the comparison midpoint since Sep 25. The market sits in the heart of the storage season, drawing on the cured Northwest crop. At 44.4 percent above the 5-year median, the current level reflects year-over-year strength despite the recent weekly weakness.
An earlier week
Benchmark yellow jumbo, 50-lb sacks is mostly $13.00, down 7.1% week over week and 18.8% since Sep 24. The slide marks the start of the storage-crop season, when the Northwest harvest normally resets supply. Despite five weeks of decline, the market sits 44.4% above its 5-year median.
What makes onion prices fall
Onion prices fall the way they rise, only with the calendar's help: every August a new storage crop arrives whether or not the market wants it, and that reset is the single most reliable downward force in this market.
The harvest reset comes first. When the Northwest storage crop comes in big and sound, led by Idaho-Eastern Oregon, the sheds fill, shippers compete for movement, and the benchmark spec typically sets its seasonal lows in the months right after harvest. The long-run trend page shows that sawtooth across years.
Heavy shipments keep the pressure on. Storage onions must move before quality declines, so a big crop creates its own selling pressure all winter: the movement volumes on the origin pages are the public read on how hard supply is pushing into the market.
Broad origin overlap is the competitive counterweight. When many origins quote at once, domestic storage, the spring crops and the import crossings together, buyers have alternatives and no single shipper can hold a price; the weekly board shows that breadth directly.
Import competition caps rallies and deepens declines. Crossings from Mexico and Peru arrive on their own production calendars, and when they land into an already-supplied domestic market, the added volume presses the whole complex lower.
Demand is steady, which cuts both ways. Onions are a kitchen staple with little demand response: demand will not surge to absorb a big crop, so oversupply has nowhere to go but price. The same steadiness that makes shortages sharp makes gluts long.
A falling stretch usually starts with a big, sound crop meeting steady demand, with origin overlap and imports deciding how far it carries. The rising twin of this page covers the same factors running the other way.