EPISODE · Jun 2, 2026 · 1H 39M
Too Big to Farm
from Growing the Future · host Dan Aberhart
Robert Andjelic, Canada's largest private farmland owner, sits down with a panel that includes a 2,500-acre farmer who has no plans to grow. Kevin Hursh, Tim Hammond, John Kotylak, and a rural fire chief all push back on Robert in different ways, and the conversation turns into a real debate about whether there is a right size for a farm at all. What's Inside The history of farm size in Canada, from 1925 to today, and why scale exploded after 2000 Robert Andjelic's case for why size has nothing to do with efficiency, safety,or agronomic stewardship Kevin Hursh's defense of staying small, and what he gave up to do it What the industry got wrong about the credit squeeze that put a billion-dollar operation into creditor protection The absentee landlord tax debate that became the most heated stretch of the show Related Episodes - Is There a Capital Squeeze in Ag? -- the credit story this conversation builds on - The Great Canadian Bull with Robert Andjelic -- the follow-up this episode was recorded to set up Connect Kevin Hursh -- Western Producer columns; hursh.ca Robert Andjelic -- farmland.ca Dallas LeDuc -- Bunnyhug Farmers Podcast; TikTok Connect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.
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What this episode covers
Robert Andjelic, Canada's largest private farmland owner, and Kevin Hursh, farm journalist and 2,500-acre operator, joined Dan Aberhart to examine what is actually happening in Western Canadian farm debt -- following a billion-dollar Prairie operation entering creditor protection and a wave of distressed farms quietly calling Robert to sell and rent back. The conversation held three threads: a real-time read on farm credit stress, an honest framework for thinking about farm size and scale, and a public debate on whether consolidation into large absentee ownership is good for the communities that carry the land. Dallas LeDuc, a fire chief from RM 44, made the case for absentee landlord taxation from the fire hall floor. Robert made the case that his decades of work with Toronto banks on agriculture's behalf benefits every producer in Canada. Neither man backed down.
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Too Big to Farm
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