A Kentucky native, Frazier graduated from the Univ. of Kentucky in 1940 with a degree in agricultural economics. After serving in the US Navy, he became a poultry and egg marketing specialist for USDA. In 1946, he became executive secretary of the Virginia State Poultry Federation, and in 1948 he was named executive secretary of the Southeastern Poultry and Egg Association.
Frazier met with poultry industry leaders in Atlanta in May of 1954 to discuss the broiler industry and the economic challenges the industry was facing at that time. This meeting resulted in creating the National Broiler Council, and Frazier was elected its first secretary-treasurer and then the organization’s first executive vice president, a position that later became president.
Frazier developed national programs for promoting consumer demand for chicken while serving as president, which were factors in expanding per capita consumption of ready-to-cook chicken from 21.3 lbs. in 1955 to 38.5 lbs. in 1972. In 1968, he was the industry’s principal spokesman in guiding through Congress important amendments to the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957.
He received numerous awards including being inducted in 1988 into the American Poultry Historical Society’s Poultry Hall of Fame, and in 2004 he was honored by the NCC as a “broiler industry pioneer.” After leaving the National Broiler Council in 1972, he founded the American Agribusiness Associates.
Frazier was preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Elizabeth, and is survived by two daughters, Libby Frazier Hixon and Frances Frazier, and four grandsons. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in his memory to the American Cancer Society or to a charity of choice.
