He told more than 200 mostly sheep and beef farming couples at the Big Dine In at New Plymouth he expected the university to post a $10 million cash profit this year, compared with a $5m loss last year.
A rise in student numbers and prudent spending were behind the turnaround.
“And we haven’t lost any of the research capability that Lincoln has through what has been a challenging period,” he said, referring to the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes and lengthy delays in settling insurance claims before rebuilding the damaged campus could start.
The first stage of the Lincoln Hub was about to start and would house a collaborative centre for scientists from Lincoln University, Crop and Food, Landcare and AgResearch in a New Zealand first for the science sector.
Smith was also confident the long-running dispute over insurance would also be resolved this year.
He later said the university had acted on advice which, in hindsight, had caused unnecessary delays to the rebuild.
He praised vice-chancellor Robin Pollard for leading a successful transformation from the ground up since taking over the role in 2016 after an initial contract role to set the framework for it.
His vision for the university was to focus more on the agri food and forestry sectors and move away from the being seen as the primary sector university.
The student population had changed significantly since his time there more than 30 years ago.
“This year 50% of the students at Lincoln are female and 30% of that group is from urban cities.”
Lincoln remained committed to delivering the more traditional pathways through tertiary studies, like diplomas in agriculture and farm management for the sons and daughters of farm owners.
But it had strength in sports and recreation studies and new degrees in food technology and marketing had been developed in the past decade.
Smith said his own experience in developing the Craggy Range wine brand told him the university must develop its own unique stories to support its brand and continue to invest in it.
Later he said he was also frustrated by a lack of ability or willingness to capture benefits back to NZ through telling the NZ story outside NZ in a more consistent, collaborative and overt way.
“We’re an island nation and we’re the youngest country in the world, the last rock to come out of the ocean, the last place to be settled.
“When you tell people from other countries that story they are fascinated by it.”
Beef + Lamb NZ chairman James Parsons said his organisation was developing its own story for beef and lamb, built on NZ’s pasture-fed, natural, mostly antibiotic-free farming systems.
One of the biggest hurdles to getting that into action was getting everyone on board and believing it was possible to tell that story to the world.
“As a nation we’re envied by the rest of the world. Yet our biggest Achilles heel is the belief we can do this,” he said.
“I know NZ is the best country in the world but it should be the best country for the world.”
But there was a risk of duplication of effort and investment across the agri sector so B+LNZ was willing to collaborate with other groups but had to continue showing leadership and commitment to get others on board.
