He held roles as vice-president of the National Farmers Union of Scotland and as a member of the Agriculture Food Research Council.
For this work he received the David Black Award – the top honour in the UK pig industry.
[citation needed] On graduating, Mackie began working on the family farm which his grandfather had established in the late 19th century, moving to Westertown in 1912.
He sold off the milk retailing section and diversified into the production of premium dairy ice-creams from the old farm buildings.
[3] Mackie was a former vice president of National Farmers Union of Scotland and a past chairman of the Scottish Agricultural College.
[5] He stood as a Liberal Democrat candidate in the first Scottish Parliamentary election in 1999 coming third to future First Minister Alex Salmond.