From an early age, he worked in the family business of raising cattle, growing strawberries, and cutting timber.

[4] As a young man, Conner was active in 4-H, serving as president of the local and Alachua County branches of the club.

At the age of 14, while attending a Florida Cooperative Extension Service forestry camp at a 4-H facility, Conner met the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Nathan Mayo, and proclaimed that he would, some day, become Agriculture Commissioner when Mayo retired.

During his tenure as Commissioner, Conner oversaw efforts to eliminate the giant African snail, hog cholera, the Mediterranean fruit fly, and the cattle screwworm.

[4][5][10] Doyle Conner died at a nursing home in Monticello, Florida on December 16, 2012, one day before his 84th birthday.