Former Dairy Farmers of Canada president Jacques Laforge, who stepped down in July after seven years, has received a prestigious award from his province for his farm sector advocacy and innovation.
The New Brunswick government has announced that he is a 2011 recipient of the Order of New Brunswick. He is one of 10 on a list that includes renowned University of Moncton government analyst and academic Donald Savoie and deceased New Brunswick-born media baron and wartime British cabinet minister and Winston Churchill collaborator Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook.
Announcement of Laforge’s honour by the province cited both his work for the dairy industry but also his farm innovations including an on-farm bio-digester that will produce electricity for his Saint-André farm, send power into the provincial power grid and provide compost to local farmers.
“Jacques Laforge is receiving the Order of New Brunswick for his passionate belief in farming in our province and our nation and for his work to ensure a bright future for his fellow farmers and for all New Brunswickers,” said the official announcement.
Laforge, who stepped down as DFC president at its annual meeting in Winnipeg last month, operates a 1,000-acre farm in northeast New Brunswick that includes grain production and a 200-head Holstein dairy operation.
