The result of the Jan. 4 windstorm that paralyzed many of Chico’s residents and businesses has been very damaging, even devastating, to many almond growers in the area.

If you have driven along Nord Avenue or anywhere among the almond orchards from Vina to Durham, you will have seen orchards in which literally thousands of trees have fallen over due to the wind. Of the 100,000 acres of almonds produced in the Sacramento Valley, estimates are in the area of 10 percent loss. Many orchards lost few if any trees. Some appear to have lost 80 percent or more.

This loss has almond growers pondering: What do we do now?

Fortunately, most of the other orchard crops such as walnuts, prunes (dried plums), pistachios, pecans and peaches did not suffer the same loss as the less sturdy almonds. Many almond growers diversify their businesses by producing more than one tree crop, as well as rice, livestock or other enterprises. As with any industry, diversification tends to reduce risk and help businesses survive events like the worst windstorm in memory of many long-time residents of Chico.

After quickly arranging for the services of woodcutters, almond growers have counted the number of each variety of trees lost. This count, along with the age, general condition and production potential of the orchard help them decide if they should replace the missing trees or remove the remaining trees and start over.

Most orchards include several varieties of almond trees, each with slightly different bloom and maturity dates to make sure there are enough compatible flowers to maximize pollination and to spread their harvest efforts. Therefore, replacing trees is not as simple as buying the number of trees lost from an orchard and planting them where the old trees used to be. Each tree lost must be replaced with the same or compatible variety. Some producers will plant two trees evenly spaced in each opening left by a toppled mature tree. The hope is that two small trees will fill the space more quickly and begin producing more almonds sooner than would one tree. By the time the new trees have outgrown the space, the producer expects the orchard to have matured beyond optimum production and ready for total replacement.

The next big challenge for producers will be to find enough trees of the varieties they need during the short window of opportunity they have to replace the trees this year. What they are looking for are bare-rootstock of the most appropriate type (mostly varieties of plum and peach root stock) on which has been grafted the needed variety of almond wood.

Different rootstock perform better in certain types of soil, from the heavy adobe soils typical of the Nord area to the lighter loam soils found predominantly west and south of Chico and near Vina. Plum and peach rootstocks tend to be more resistant to diseases and nematodes than would the natural almond roots. These grafted trees would have been grown in nurseries over the past year or two. During that time the tops would have been removed and replaced with a bud of the appropriate variety of almond wood, by precise grafting methods. These grafted trees are then dug up, washed free of soil and stored in refrigerated and moisture controlled warehouses waiting for distribution to growers.

The question that is now being determined as the orders come in is: Will the nurseries have enough trees? If not, some tree replacement may have to wait for another year while the nurseries produce the grafted trees for transplanting.

If there is a silver lining to the almond growers’ loss, it may be that the damage occurred early enough in the year to allow trees to be replanted during the optimum time for best transplanting results. Almond trees can be transplanted during any time of the year, but are more likely to survive and thrive if placed in the orchard between February and April. This timing gives them a chance to establish some root growth before the hot spring and summer months and simply more time to grow before going dormant in the fall. A windstorm causing these levels of losses could have been even more devastating in March or April when the optimum replanting window has closed and when more input costs have been spent on the trees lost.

As you see the orchards being cleared of fallen trees, new trees being replanted and nurtured during the coming seasons, hopefully you will have an expanded appreciation for all the decisive action and challenges of growers as they struggle to determine, “What do we do now?”