Due to its southerly location and the moderating effect of Lake Erie, it has a slightly milder climate than inland areas. Its climate is one of the mildest in Canada, and the island has long been used for vineyards and wine making. The wine industry was started here in 1860 and died out in the early twentieth century, but was restarted in the 1980s by the Pelee Island Winery. The island is an agricultural based community which grows about of soybeans, about of wheat, of grapes, and a few hectares of specialty corn.