Agriculture chief Quarles replaces Beshear’s appointee to head farm policy office

Gov. Andy Beshear’s choice to head the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy is out and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles’ selection is in.

Quarles, a Republican, announced Monday that he has named Brian Lacefield of Versailles to be the new director of the office formerly named Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy, effective April 16.

Lacefield replaces former Democratic state Sen. Dorsey Ridley of Henderon, whom Democrat Beshear appointed to the position last Aug. Ridley had been Beshear’s liaision to the state legislature before taking the position as head of the farm office established in 1998 that provides grants, incentives and low-interest loans through the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund to help farmers and agribusinesses innovate and grow.

The Republican-controlled legislature this year approved Senate Bill 3, which shifted responsibilities for the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund from the governor’s office to the state Department of Agriculture.

Beshear had no immediate comment on Lacefield’s appointment or on what will happen now to Ridley.

Quarles’ spokesman Sean Southard said Lacefield’s salary will be $110,000 a year. That is $5,000 more than Ridley’s salary.

Quarles, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for governor against Democrat Beshear in 2023, said in a release, “Brian Lacefield is well-respected in Kentucky’s agricultural community and has years of agribusiness and investment experience that makes him the perfect fit to lead the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy.”

Lacefield said he was honored by the appointment and looks forward to working with board members “to uphold the great tradition of innovation and excellence at the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund. There is tremendous opportunity to strengthen and diversify our agricultural economy and I am excited to hit the ground running.”

Lacefield reently was state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.

Prior to joining the Trump administration, he served in various roles in the agriculture industry, most recently as market president at Trigg County FNB Bank. He also has worked as chief financial officer of Agri-Chem and general manager for Commonwealth Agri-Finance, both divisions of Hopkinsville Elevator Cooperative.

He served as vice president of agriculture and commercial banking with Planters Bank and as an area extension specialist with the University of Kentucky Farm Business Management Program.

Lacefield has been a board member for the Kentucky Retail Federation, Kentucky Corn Growers, Kentucky FFA Foundation, and the Kentucky Ag Leadership Program. Over the past decade, he has served nonprofits and charitable organizations including Cadiz Rotary, the United Way of the Pennyrile and the Hopkinsville Farmers Market.

“Commissioner Quarles has made a solid appointment in the selection of Brian Lacefield to serve as director for the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy,” said Warren Beeler, former executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy whom Beshear replaced with Ridley.

Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, last year called Beeler’s dismissal by Beshear “hyperpartisan” and predicted that the Republican-dominated legislature would “rein in” the Democratic governor’s authority.

Beeler, of Caneyville, was appointed in January 2016 by then-Republican Gov. Matt Bevin.