Since joining the FPPQ in 2007, he has also chaired the finishers' committee and has been closely involved in marketing issues and in the negotiations for the new agreement, as well as working on production costs and quality assurance.
Boissonneault is the youngest producer to take the helm of the FPPQ. He has been working in hog production since 1995. A father of four, he owns the Ferme Ronchonnerie. The business includes two farrow-to-finish hog production sites of 340 sows each, located in Saint-Louis de Blandford and Lyster.
"My primary objective is to make hog farming in Quebec profitable again and to secure the future of the sector," Boissonneault said. "This is the toughest challenge I have faced to date, and I firmly believe that to succeed, we all need to step up to the plate."
Three members of the board of directors also joined the executive committee: Cécilien Berthiaume, from the Beauce, as first vice-president; Normand Martineau as first member; and André Auger, from the Mauricie, as second member. Robert Monty, from St-Hyacinthe, will stay on as second vice-president.
In addition to the president, the FPPQ board of directors includes the presidents of the regional unions and marketing committees. The board is responsible for the general management of the Fédération and takes the measures required to implement the decisions made at the annual general meeting. The executive committee monitors and implements the decisions of the board.
The Fédération des producteurs de porcs du Québec represents the interests of 3,900 pork producers in 12 regional syndicates. Quebec's pork producers raise over 7.5 million hogs per year and generate economic benefits amounting to more than $1.5 billion (US$1.54 billion) across the province. The pork industry in Quebec employs some 24,000 people and exports 60 percent of its products to more than 75 countries.
