BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (KT) – Funeral arrangements have been announced for former two-term Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Billy Ray Smith, who passed away on Oct. 10 at the age of 82 following a brief bout with cancer.
Smith was born on April 5, 1944, to Leslie Eugene and Evelyn Stahl Smith. He grew up as a fourth-generation farmer and cattle breeder. After graduating from Western Kentucky University in 1965 with a degree in agriculture, he managed Pan American Mills, a grain elevator and livestock feed manufacturing company, for nearly 30 years.
As an elected official, Billy Ray was best known for his ability to build rapport with those on both sides of the aisle and his strong advocacy for agriculture and agribusiness in the state of Kentucky. He first served in the Kentucky House of Representatives representing Warren and Simpson Counties from 1982 to 1995. As a State Legislator, he served on the Agriculture Committee and as Chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee.
In 1995 and again in 1999, Billy Ray was the first person in Kentucky history to be elected to two consecutive terms as Commissioner of Agriculture. He championed the disbursement of the 1998 Tobacco Settlement to fund and transformed Kentucky agriculture, preserving thousands of farmland acres and creating the foundation for the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund (KADF), a program that has distributed hundreds of millions of dollars to help local farmers diversify away from tobacco production.
He also established the Kentucky Proud program, the state’s official agricultural marketing brand that promotes Kentucky-grown and produced products. Similarly, he developed the Farm and Home Safety Program to significantly reduce the rate of Kentucky’s farming-related deaths. The Ag in the Classroom Program was created under his leadership, as was the Ag Tag Program. All these initiatives continue to positively impact the Commonwealth today.
Current Ag Commissioner Jonathan Shell noted Kentucky agriculture owes Smith a great deal.
“While he made history as Kentucky’s first two-term Agriculture Commissioner, more importantly, he was a farmer’s Commissioner. It was never about press releases or what’s next in politics. He was there to do the job and serve Kentucky farmers.”
Smith was also the treasurer-clerk in the South Central Baptist Association and an active member at First Baptist Church in Bowling Green.
Visitation for Smith will be on Friday, Oct. 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at First Baptist Church, 621 East 12th Ave., in Bowling Green, with the funeral service at 3:00. A private burial will follow at the Barren River Baptist Church Cemetery.
