Two Ontario women have been appointed to the National Farm Products Council which oversees national marketing agencies for the poultry industry and promotion prograns for several comodities.
Bonnie den Haan has been appointed to a four-year term as vice-chair.
She is a dairy producer and processor with her husband John den Haan and two daughters operating Haanview Holsteins and Sheldon Creek Dairy.
Their two sons work in the dairy industry and farm with their families.
She received a Bachelor of Sciences in Agriculture from the University of Guelph in 1981 and is a graduate of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program. She has been a board member of both Dairy Farmers of Ontario and Dairy Farmers of Canada and is past Chair of the Farm and Food Care Ontario Board.
Samantha Haverkamp has been appointed a council member for four years.
She farms outside of Woodstock, Ont., as a hatching egg producer. She is a graduate of the University of Guelph with a Diploma in Horticulture, Bachelor of Science Degree in Honours Agriculture, and a Certificate in Business.
Prior to joining the family farm in 2019, she worked for a financial institution lending to agriculture and commercial businesses.
She also worked for an agriculture input company buying grain, selling fertilizer and other crop inputs after graduating.
She is currently on the Ontario Broiler Chicken Hatching Egg Producers Association (OBCHEPA), and has been the chair of the association since 2022 and a board member of the Poultry Industry Council.
Both appointments were made by Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
