Mr McNee, who was brought up on a farm at Enfield, inland from Oamaru, has been director-general of MPI since November 2010. In 2011, he led the merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the Ministry of Fisheries to form the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Prior to joining MPI, he was chief executive of the Ministry of Fisheries and, before that, he was chief executive of the Government's drug-buying agency Pharmac.
LIC chairman Murray King said the board was delighted to have attracted a person of the calibre, background and experience of Mr McNee. The appointment was a ''huge accolade'' for the role LIC played within the New Zealand agricultural sector and the economy generally, he said.
The co-operative had doubled its annual revenue under the leadership of current chief executive Mark Dewdney to about $170 million. It was positioned on ''yet another cusp of innovation and growth'' and it was an exciting time to be welcoming Mr McNee, Mr King said.
LIC has about 700 staff throughout New Zealand, increasing to 2500 during the peak dairy breeding season. It has offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and the United States and agents in South America and South Africa.
On leaving Waitaki Boys' High School in 1981, Mr McNee studied pharmacy at the University of Otago graduating with a bachelor degree and a post-graduate diploma in clinical pharmacy. He studied leadership and management at Insead Business School, Stanford University, Oxford University and Mt Eliza Business School.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye yesterday paid tribute to Mr McNee for his 14 years of service as a chief executive in the public service.
The merger he oversaw resulted in savings of more than $20 million a year and created a new strategy of ''grow and protect''. MPI now had the ambitious target of doubling exports from the primary sector from $30 billion to $60 billion by 2025, Mr Guy said.
Mr Dewdney retires at the end of May and acting chief executive David Hemara will remain in the role until Mr McNee starts work at the end of July.
