'No happy medium': Cape Breton farms adapt to weather extremes

'No happy medium': Cape Breton farms adapt to weather extremes

Farmers deal with effects of wet, cold spring after last summer’s drought

Lorne Quinn has run Quinn’s U-Pick in Millville, N.S., since 1988. While he is no stranger to changing weather, he says recent patterns have become unpredictable.

During last summer’s drought, his crop yields plummeted 40 per cent. This spring brought the exact opposite — relentless rain and overcast skies that starved his strawberries and pumpkins of sunlight.

“The berries don’t react unless the temperature is above 15 C,” Quinn said. “They are very slow-forming, so we're behind at least 10 days.”

The weather stress caused the farm to miss its traditional Canada Day opening.

“It’s either too hot, too dry, too wet or too cold," Quinn said. "There's no happy medium anymore."

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Paul Eyking of Eyking Family Farms says extreme weather cycles that used to occur five to 10 years apart are now happening back-to-back.

While cold-loving crops like cabbage and rhubarb are thriving, smaller plants like beans are falling behind. Furthermore, waterlogged soil has made field maintenance highly erratic, forcing Eyking to adjust crew hours constantly.

To adapt, the farm scaled back its total crop volume and invested in high-tech solutions, including tractor satellite trackers to pinpoint field maintenance needs.

"This equipment is quite expensive, but implementing technology is where I see the future," Eyking said.

Other Cape Breton growers are moving away from traditional crop dependency altogether.

Will Kosloski and his partner, Terry, relocated from British Columbia to Judique, N.S., in 2017 to build an ecologically and economically viable operation. At Twisted Roots Farm, they have diversified into agritourism and education.

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To generate a steady income regardless of the weather, they offer goat walks across their 30-hectare property and host workshops on homesteading skills, such as making soap and body butter.

“We knew this was going to happen,” Kosloski said of the changing climate. “But the actual impact of feeling it and seeing it is certainly worrisome.”

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Ethan Hunt is a reporter for CBC Nova Scotia from Lunenburg, N.S. He regularly covers sports, the environment and mental health matters. You can reach him at ethan.hunt@cbc.ca.