The appointment follows a decision by the fund's former CEO, David Goodfellow, to join Elders as group general manager for its Australian network, starting on January 23.

Mr Whittle has been part of the team managing the Macquarie fund since January 2008, and is moving from the role of business operations manager, where he has been closely involved in building the fund's acquisitions and laying the operational framework for its properties.

He has also played a key role in driving farm performance, risk management oversight and leading the fund's farm management team.

Mr Whittle's previous experience includes a commercial manager role with Clyde Agriculture, where he was responsible for livestock, cropping systems and whole-farm performance, as well as the allocation of capital to new projects or acquisitions.

He also has led a team of 25 to provide financial services to farming and post-farm gate businesses for National Australia Bank's agricultural business.

Mr Whittle said Macquarie Pastoral Fund had built a strong portfolio of properties with a carrying capacity for more than 200,000 sheep and 200,000 cattle.

"Our focus going forward is consistent with our original strategy, which is to generate returns for our investors by successfully running one of Australia's largest portfolios of sheep and cattle properties, providing the ability to capitalise on the future growth in world demand for protein," he said.

Mr Whittle has a Masters of Business Administration from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Sydney.

Tim Hornibrook, an executive director with Macquarie, said Mr Whittle was selected for his wealth of experience in agricultural and financial services. He had been on the MPF management team for four years.

and has well established relationships with our people working on properties across Australia, as well as a number of our investors," Mr Hornibrook said.

"Jock grew up on his family's sheep and cropping property in rural NSW, which enables him to bring together a lifetime's experience in farming with many years of experience in the corporate sector.

"Importantly, Jock has also been actively involved in implementing the fund's strategy and his appointment ensures we will remain consistent with our strategic aims, as well as maintaining our primary focus of delivering returns for our investors."