How P.E.I. farmers are adapting to climate change — quickly

This is part two in the CBC P.E.I. series Changed by Fiona, exploring the impact the post-tropical storm will have on the Island's people and industries moving forward. Read part one here.

Wade Bryanton says he'll never forget the sight and sound of the barn collapsing on his cows at 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2022.

The 35-year-farming veteran from Tiny Acres Holsteins in Belmont Lot 16 said he never thought he'd see a storm as powerful as post-tropical storm Fiona.

"I basically heard a big bang, which was the doors failing on the front of the building," he said.

"It just started taking the whole wall system completely out and lifting it straight up above into the centre of the barn, dropping it down on the cows, which was just horrific to watch." Dozens of animals died.

The Bryantons' position on a peninsula in Prince Edward Island's Malpeque Bay made them particularly susceptible to strong winds from the north, and Fiona was generating northerly gusts of up to 100 kilometres per hour. They had two buildings collapse that night. 

Both barns have since been rebuilt while the family maintained an active dairy operation — literally working and building around the cows.

The Bryantons are among the Island farmers who took the opportunity to make upgrades to increase their climate resiliency. 

"We have a generator system basically that runs everything together, and having the power underground now will help us get to that next level of just no interference with downed lines," Bryanton said.

"It certainly makes everything work smoother for the long term."

The dairy operation integrated automated robotic milking machines in the rebuilt barns, which include additional supports on the exterior to brace the large, open-air buildings in high winds. 

The Bryantons also installed fans to keep the cows cooler in summer heat.

"As the summers get hotter and hotter, and we seem to get more of these occurrences with heat waves and things like that, that was one of the things that we felt was very necessary for the comfort of the cows, [to] help them be more adaptable to what's coming as well," he said. 

 The P.E.I. Federation of Agriculture says farms across the Island are making similar changes.