Farming for Love

Network

CTV / Bell Media (Canada)

Original Air Date

May 28 2023

Seasons / Episodes

1 season • 10 episodes (Season 2 in development)

Format

Canadian adaptation of Farmer Wants a Wife: five rural farmers invite daters from the city to live and work on their farms while searching for love.

Production Company

Lark Productions / ITV Studios Canada

Filming Locations

British Columbia and Alberta farms

LGBTQ+ Focus

Featured farmer Kirkland Andersen, the first openly gay lead in a North American Farmer Wants a Wife adaptation.

When Farming for Love premiered, it quietly transformed a genre built on heteronormative ideals.

Among its five farmers, Kirkland Andersen, a dairy farmer from Delta, British Columbia, made history as the first openly gay lead in the Farmer Wants a Wife franchise to appear on a major North American broadcast network.

His dates with male contestants were treated with the same warmth, humor, and sincerity as the heterosexual pairings — a refreshingly matter-of-fact approach that signaled how far representation had come.

For many viewers, Kirkland’s storyline was a touchstone moment for rural queer visibility on television. 

By introducing a gay farmer to prime-time Canadian audiences, Farming for Love proved that LGBTQ+ representation can coexist naturally with mainstream dating formats.

It challenged long-held assumptions about rural life and queer identity, reframing the “country romance” genre as inclusive rather than exclusive.

The series showed that authentic casting and genuine connection — not gimmicks — are the real drivers of modern reality-dating success.