Today is the deadline for disposing of cull onions according to Idaho State Department of Agriculture rules. I’m David Sparks and I’ll tell you why in a minute.

As of today, there must be no culls on hand at any packing sheds, in fields or at animal feed facilities. Culls are onions deemed waste or non useable for human consumption. Onions sorted after today must be properly disposed of within one week. Trucks transporting onions should be covered to prevent spillage along roadsides.

Don’t follow the rules and a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation may be enforced. There are several options for proper disposal under the rule, including pit burial, feeding, composting, spreading, chopping and shredding.

Michael Cooper, Agricultural Bureau Chief for the ISDA’s Division of Plant Industries, said the regulations are aimed at reducing the potential for damage to Idaho’s onion crop by onion maggots: “Onion maggots get into seedling onions as they come up, they like to get in and bore into the green part of the onion right at the base and they can kill seedlings. Once the onion gets well established and growing well then the onion maggot’s not as big a problem.”

So what’s the big deal with onion culls?

“They serve as a big breeding ground for onion maggots.

With consecutive years of wet springs, the insect has been known to destroy 80 percent to 90 percent of the crop.