Mr Bowtell, who had battled cancer for three years, was 77.

He was well known on the Border through his work at the Wodonga abattoir, as a political candidate, a farming and export innovator and for helping investors in the wake of the Tietyens collapse.

Mr Bowtell moved with his family to Albury-Wodonga from Melbourne in 1968 while assistant general manager with the Co-operative Farmers and Graziers and was given the task of reviving the Wodonga abattoir.

In 1971, while still involved at Wodonga and another abattoir at Shepparton, the Bowtell family bought a property at Talmalmo.

In 1977, he left the abattoir and established a meat trading company, Intanat, which exported meat, including to Switzerland.

During a trip to Switzerland Mr Bowtell came across the simmental breed and was so impressed he set up the Talmalmo property as a stud.

He was a National Party candidate for Farrer in the 1970s and over the years occupied industry positions including chairman of the Federal Meat Exporters Council and director of the Australian Meat and Livestock Research Development Corporation.

Yesterday, former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer said Mr Bowtell had been an outstanding business leader.

“He has made a huge contribution both locally and to the nation with his efforts on trade and I offer my deepest sympathy to his family,” Mr Fischer.

“In many ways Kevin paved the way for my contesting Farrer for the first time in 1984 and I am very grateful.”

Born in Sydney and raised in Newcastle, Mr Bowtell started his working life as a journalist at the then Newcastle Morning Herald.

It was at the Herald that he met his wife, Shirley, who was a cadet journalist at the time.

They married in 1950 and had three children: Victoria, Stephanie and David.

In the mid-1990s, Shirley and Kevin began planting olive trees at Talmalmo before Shirley died in December, 1996.

Mr Bowtell met his second wife, Alacoque, at an olive conference, the couple marrying in 1998.

Yesterday, Victoria Bowtell said her father would be remembered as a friend and mentor to many.

His son, David, said his father was a fair man and a “ball of energy ... he was constantly moving into the next phase of his life”.

A funeral service for Mr Bowtell will be held at St Matthew’s Church, Albury, on Monday at 11am.