The honorary vice president of the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RSABI), Andrew Arbuckle, has been made an MBE by King Charles III.
The 80-year-old was made an MBE during a ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Arbuckle served as a trustee of RSABI prior to becoming vice president and has raised more than £100,000 for the agricultural charity.
He did this by producing three books, two of which were with his late brother John, and which take a light-hearted look at farming life.
RSABI chief executive Carol McLaren said: “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 Andrew and proud of his achievements and we are delighted to see him receive this honour.”
Andrew Arbuckle
Arbuckle has also made an exceptional contribution to the heritage and growth of community arts and sport in Fife, RSABI said, along with a career as an award-winning agricultural journalist and his dedication to local and national politics in Scotland.
In 2012, he was awarded the Netherthorpe Award, the top UK award for agricultural journalism, and during his years as agricultural editor of The Courier and The Scotsman.
Arbuckle was brought up on a family farm in Fife and has held a range of positions in support of the industry including being a director of Fife Growers co-operative from 1974 to 1977, promoting the growing of field scale vegetables for the frozen market.
In the 1970s, he served as a director of the Scottish Nuclear Stock Association established to promote the raspberry industry through the sales of healthy canes and, in 1992, he was elected chair of the Fife & Kinross area of NFU Scotland.
He also served on the NFU Scotland legal committee at national level for seven years and was awarded the NFU Scotland Ambassador Award in 2023.
He chaired Newburgh Community Trust (NCT) during a period when in excess of £250,000 was raised to convert a former factory brown field site into Riverside Park which is now much enjoyed by the local community as an informal recreation parkland area.
During his term as chair of the trust, Arbuckle also led the trust to successfully raise £60,000 to buy, and now run, the former town reservoir as an informal recreational park. This was the first community-owned reservoir in Scotland.
In 2016, Arbuckle was asked to chair the Tayport Community Trust and helped them to raise £2.5 million for a new community centre and a caravan park.
He has also given four decades of service to Scottish local and national politics, from 1986 to May 2007.
