As many breeders will already know, the chief executive of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society, Ron McHattie, has died at the age of 63, only a month before his planned early retirement.

In spite of recent health issues, Mr McHattie continued to be actively involved in the running of the Society, attending a meeting of the Society’s Council at the end of August and conducting business from his home in Lochussie before his death on Thursday night (September 3).

A statement from the Society said Mr McHattie had died peacefully at home surrounded by his family.

“The news of Ron’s untimely passing will come as a shock to his many friends in the Aberdeen-Angus breed both at home and abroad,” said breed president, David Evans. “He played a huge and influential role in the phenomenal development and expansion of the Aberdeen-Angus breed in the UK and Ireland over the past 18 years and his wise counsel will be greatly missed.

“Our heart goes out to his wife, Christine, daughter, Laura, and son, Frazer, in their sad loss.”

Mr McHattie was appointed the Society’s first chief executive in January, 1997, and has played a major role in restoring the breed’s pre-eminent position in the beef industry, with annual registrations in the Herd Book more than doubling to a record 14,732 last year and the Society’s financial reserves increasing five-fold to over £2,400,000 during his stewardship. The Society is now the second largest beef breed society in the UK in terms of beef breed sired calves registered with the British Cattle Movement Service

He was instrumental in developing a close relationship with leading retailers and the meat trade which has been key to the breed’s expansion and the premium prices secured for Aberdeen-Angus and Aberdeen-Angus cross cattle in the market place.

He was passionate about maintaining the integrity of the Aberdeen-Angus brand which saw the Society introduce a ground-breaking tissue sampling programme last year to validate the pedigrees of Aberdeen-Angus cattle and ensure the authenticity of beef sold as Aberdeen-Angus.

The Society was also the first in the UK to adopt the ABRI Breedplan performance recording system from Australia which has been rolled out to other beef breed society’s through the Society’s subsidiary company, Pedigree Cattle Services.

Mr McHattie travelled widely in his role as chief executive and represented the Society on the board of the World Aberdeen-Angus Secretariat which meets every two years in different parts of the world.  He attended Aberdeen-Angus World Forums in Australia, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand and in recent months was heavily involved in the planning of the next World Forum which will be held in the UK in 2017 for the first time since 1977.

Announcing his decision in April to retire in the autumn, Mr McHattie said: “Overseeing the breed during its resurgence as a leading beef breed and the development of the branded Aberdeen-Angus beef range in leading supermarkets has been hugely exciting.

“The growth of the Society and the Aberdeen-Angus brand is testament to the hard work of breeders in producing cattle to suit the modern market and the foresight shown by the Society’s Council in working with leading processors and retailers to develop markets.”

A tenant farmer’s son from Forres, Moray, Mr McHattie graduated from the East of Scotland College of Agriculture and spent the early part of his career working with a dairy herd at Moffat and as a working farm manager on farms at Galashiels and North Fife where he developed his expertise in beef finishing systems.

He then moved north to Brahan Farms, Conon Bridge, where he managed a large-scale suckler and beef finishing enterprise on 1000 hectares for eight years before moving to the co-operative development organisation, SAOS, as a project manager, gaining considerable experience in the marketing of agricultural products, supply chain management and identification of appropriate marketing structures.

He was appointed chief executive of the Society with the remit to improve and further develop all aspects of the Society’s business and maximise the commercial opportunities for Aberdeen-Angus cattle.

“These aspirations have certainly been achieved and the success of the breed under Ron’s stewardship has exceeded all expectations,” said Mr Evans.

Mr McHattie’s funeral will take place on Friday (September 11) at 12 noon in the funeral home of William T Fraser and Son, Funeral Directors, Culduthel Road, Inverness.