JIM MCLAREN, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, has been awarded an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

Mr McLaren has been chairman of QMS since 2011, and was previously president of NFU Scotland from 2007 to 2011, while he is also a director of NFU Mutual and of Angus Cereals, and has served on the board of SRUC.

He said he was "surprised and delighted" to have received the award, and commented: "It has been a huge privilege for me to have worked in, and for, the Scottish agricultural industry in the various roles I have undertaken to date.

“I am immensely proud of our industry and particularly of the people, the length and breadth of our country, who dedicate their lives to producing safe, nutritious food in a way which enriches Scotland’s environment."

Other MBEs were awarded to: William James Campbell, for services to agriculture; Ms Sally Jane Hyman, for services to animal welfare and the environment; Mrs Clara Audrey Jones, for services to the Women's Institute and to the community; Mrs Diane Lampard, for services to equestrianism; William John McLeod Reid MacKie, for services to the fishing industry; Robert John Mitchell, for services to horticulture and horticultural education; Graham Taylor, for services to forestry, and Bernard Oliver Tickner, for services to horticulture and to wildlife conservation.

Birthday OBEs went to; Professor Michael Calvert Appleby, for services to animal welfare; Professor Christopher Trevor Elliot, for services to the agri-food supply chain; Roger Malcolm Evans, for services to the UK dairy industry and local community; Miss Louise Hubble, for services to rural communities; and Brendan James Joyce, for services to wildlife conservation.