Tony Kirkland may not have grown up on a farm, but he fell in love with the life and has made a career of potato seed growing.
Growing up in North Vancouver, B.C. Tony Kirkland never expected to become a farmer. He did like working outside with his hands, which led him to work in construction. However, when he was laid off, he found himself moving east to Alberta for work.
“I got myself a job in a warehouse and worked there for six years, met my wife there and got married in 1986. (She was from) a farming family,” Kirkland says in a phone interview. “I went down there to help them out at harvest time. And I thought you know what, I quite like this. So, I quit my job, and I started working for them.”
Kirkland’s wife, Susanne, came from a family that managed a grain farm, whereas his sister-in-law, Hazel Dandeneau, owned a potato farm. Kirkland found himself more interested in the potato side of operations and decided to work there in 1991 after leaving the warehouse.
Over the years, the farm expanded. At the start it was a fresh potato farm and Kirkland worked with Dandeneau and her brother Jack Robinson. In 1996, they switched to seed potato production. In 2000, Kirkland built two greenhouses to expand into mini tuber production and at that time the farm in Spruce Grove, Alta. was incorporated under the name Sandhills Seed Potatoes Ltd. In 2006, Dandeneau and Kirkland bought out Robinson from his share of the farm.
“Once I got involved in the potatoes, that was amazing to me. It was just another challenge,” Kirkland says. “Starting out right from the bottom, growing mini tubers and going up, I loved it. You get up at five o’clock in the morning and you work in the greenhouse, and then you go to work on the potato farm. There was just nothing better.”
Kirkland became involved in the wider potato community as well. He sits on the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada seed potato committee and is on the board of directors for the Potato Growers of Alberta (PGA).
Kirkland “brings great value (to our board) — he brings a lot of wisdom,” Terence Hochstein, PGA executive director, explains in a phone interview. “Quite often I’ll hear him say, ‘Think about the big picture. Don’t think of the now, don’t think of the problem or the situation right in front of you. Think of the big picture. Think about tomorrow, three years, five years, 10 years down the road.’… To me, that’s a sign of a good leader.”
For Kirkland, he has found himself wanting to serve on these boards to tell the story for the seed industry. He works to make sure the priorities and needs of the seed industry are being considered both when seed specific policies are being made and when policies are being made about the potato industry as a whole.
“He’s one of the pioneers, one of the leaders (of the Alberta potato seed industry). He’s willing to spend time with people that ask, politicians, anybody that will ask a question about the seed industry, Tony will spend the time to explain it to them,” Hochstein says.
As Kirkland looks toward the future, he is now working with his son Cody Kirkland and niece Erin O’Brien on the farm. He’s proud of what his family has accomplished building the seed farm and is thankful to see it carry on with the next generation.
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