RSABI honorary vice-president Andrew Arbuckle (80) has been made a MBE during a ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh.

Andrew, who served as a trustee of the well known agricultural charity RSABI prior to becoming its vice-president, received his MBE from HM The King during a private investiture at the Palace. He has raised more than £100,000 for RSABI by producing three books (two with his late brother John) which take a light-hearted look at farming life.

RSABI chief executive, Carol McLaren, attended the ceremony with Andrew’s daughters, Lydia and Elizabeth and extended the charity’s warmest congratulations and huge thanks to Andrew.

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“As well as raising a fabulous amount for RSABI, Andrew has also raised the spirits of a great many people involved in Scottish agriculture. We are incredibly grateful to him and proud of his achievements, and we are delighted to see him receive this honour,” said Ms McLaren.

Andrew has also made an exceptional contribution to the heritage and growth of community arts and sport in Fife, along with a career as an award-winning agricultural journalist, with dedication to local and national politics in Scotland.

In 2012, he was given the Netherthorpe Award – the top UK award for agricultural journalism, and during his years as agricultural editor of The Courier and The Scotsman, his journalistic skills ranged from covering crisis situations such as foot-and-mouth and BSE, to numerous highly insightful commentary pieces.

Andrew was brought up on a family farm in Fife and, in addition to his journalism career, held a range of positions in support of the industry including being a director of Fife Growers co-op from 1974 to 1977, promoting field scale vegetables for the frozen market following the closure of Cupar's sugar beet factory.

In the 1970s, he served as a director of the Scottish Nuclear Stock Association to promote the raspberry industry and in 1992 was elected chairman of the Fife and Kinross Area of NFU Scotland. He also served on the NFUS legal committee at national level for seven years and was awarded the NFU Scotland Ambassador Award in 2023.