OTTAWA—Chicken Farmers of Canada is proud to announce the election of the
2018 Executive Committee. The elections followed the annual general meeting and the 15-member Board
of Directors, made up of farmers and other stakeholders from the chicken industry, has chosen the
following representatives:
Benoît Fontaine, Chair (Stanbridge Station, Quebec)
Hailing from Stanbridge Station, Quebec, Benoît Fontaine, Chair of Chicken Farmers of Canada, most
recently served as the 1st Vice-Chair of the Executive Committee. He first joined the Board of Directors in
2013 as an alternate, and became the Quebec Director in 2014. He farms in the Lac Champlain area and
raises 5.5 million kg of chicken and 500,000 kg of turkey. A former high school Canadian history teacher,
and 2nd generation chicken farmer, Benoît has also been heavily involved in the Union des producteurs
agricoles since 1999. Benoît has also served on Chicken Farmers of Canada’s Policy Committee and the
Production Committee.
Derek Janzen, 1st Vice-Chair (Aldergrove, British Columbia)
Derek Janzen, 1st Vice-Chair, and his wife Rhonda have farmed in the Fraser Valley since 1998. They
currently produce 1.4 million Kg’s of chicken annually and manage 22,000 commercial laying hens. Prior
to farming, Derek worked for B.C.’s largest poultry processor for nearly nine years. He worked his way
up from driving delivery truck to sales and marketing where he took the position of Major Accounts
Manager. Derek’s experience in the processing industry has served him well with his board involvement.
Derek has held various positions on a variety of boards including Chair of the B.C. Egg Producers
Association and also was appointed by the Minister of Agriculture as a member of the Farm Industry
Review Board, B.C.’s supervisory board. Derek enjoys being involved in the industry and is excited to
represent B.C. at the Chicken Farmers of Canada.
Nick de Graaf, 2nd Vice-Chair (Port Williams, Nova Scotia)
Nick de Graaf is a third-generation poultry farmer in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia operating the
farm founded by his Dutch grandfather in the early 1960’s. Today the farm produces more than 660,000
chickens, and 67,000 turkeys per year. Nick is also part of Innovative Poultry Group (IPG). IPG farms
55,000 broiler breeders and owns Maritime Chicks, a new, state-of-the-art hatchery employing the
HatchCare system. In addition to poultry, Nick grows more than 1,600 acres of wheat, corn and
soybeans. He is self-sufficient in the production of corn and soybeans for his on-farm feed mill where he
processes poultry feeds for his own flocks. Nick is in his 8th year as a Director with Chicken Farmers of
Nova Scotia. He has participated in Chicken Farmers of Canada as an Alternate Director and as a member
of the Policy Committee. Nick and his wife, Trudy, have three children and two grandchildren.