Becky Doyle was appointed to lead the Department of Agriculture in 1991 by Governor Jim Edgar.
She took the helm of the agency which oversaw our state’s leading industry. The Department of Agriculture then had six divisions with 600 employees and a budget of $53.5 million dollars, on top of running two state fairs.
She once said, “You don’t have to be a farmer to hold this job, but it helps to have a knowledge of agriculture.”
That was knowledge which she certainly had.