Mr. Jacques Laforge was appointed February 7, 2012 for a three-year term. On October 15, 2014, Minister Ritz announced the reappointment of Mr. Laforge for a 3-year term.

Mr. Laforge is well known for his leadership in agriculture both nationally and in his home province of New Brunswick, where he and his wife operate a successful 1,000-acre mixed farming operation.

Throughout his farming career, Mr. Laforge has shown a strong dedication to serving his fellow farmers. He served as an executive on the Dairy Farmers of New Brunswick board of directors for 10 years before taking on the role of chairman from 1995 to 2000. From 1997 to 2000, he also served as chairman of the Atlantic Dairy and Forage Institute, an organization which provided a venue for on-farm research trials to producers and manufacturers, after having served on the board of directors since the 1980s. He joined the executive committee of the Dairy Farmers of Canada in 1999. In 2004, he took on the role of president, a title he held until 2011.