Hailing from Stanbridge Station, Quebec, Benoît Fontaine, Chair of Chicken Farmers of Canada, 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 became Chair of CFC in 2016.

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 BC’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 BC Egg Producers Association and also was appointed by the Minister of Agriculture as a member of the Farm Industry Review Board (FIRB), BC’s supervisory board. Derek enjoys being involved in the industry and is excited to represent BC at the Chicken Farmers of Canada.

Nick de Graaf, 2nd Vice-Chair, 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.

Tim Klompmaker, Executive Member, lives in Norwood, Ontario and was elected to the Chicken Farmers of Canada Board in 2017. Tim started farming in 1984 along with his wife Annette and his three sons. He is a third generation chicken farmer with the fourth generation already in place and running chicken farms of their own. Tim served as a District Committee Representative for Chicken Farmers of Ontario before being elected to the Ontario Board in 2000. He served as CFC Alternate Representative for Ontario from 2012-2013, and has represented Ontario on the CFC Production Committee, the AMU Working Committee, and at NFACC. He has also served as 1st Vice-Chair of Chicken Farmers of Ontario.