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Honour for Highland livestock auctioneer

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A stalwart of the Highland farming community has been has been recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours just months after retiring.

Kenny McKenzie has been made an MBE for services to agriculture in the north, having spent almost five decades as a north livestock auctioneer.

The 66-year-old retired as managing director of Dingwall Auction Mart, and Dingwall and Highland Marts, on Hogmanay.

“It was a total surprise, I honestly couldn’t believe it,” he said of the moment he was told of the honour.

“I’m very humbled and honoured by it. I can’t understand why I got it.

“It’s not just for me. I think I’ve got to thank my fellow directors and customers over the years, and obviously my wife Dorothy and family.”

The honour was for services to agriculture and charity, with Mr McKenzie having organised many charity auctions, most recently raising £120,000 for Macmillan.

Born in Evanton, he joined what was then called Reith and Anderson in April 1965, before being appointed a director of the firm in 1977, and becoming joint managing director with Henry Meiklejohn in 1998. Mr McKenzie became sole managing director in January 2001.

One of his key achievements was overseeing the mart’s successful relocation to Humberston Farm, after Tesco bought its former Dingwall town-centre site 11 years ago.

“We were very keen to leave a strong market in Dingwall. People come from all over the Highlands,” he said.

Mr McKenzie also saw off the BSE crisis in 1996 and two foot-and-mouth scares. The first, in 2001, happened just six weeks after he took over as boss.

While retired as managing director, he continues to run the mart’s 600-acre farm, on which it grows 200 acres of barley and fattens 600 cattle annually.