Lincoln’s new man on top

Meeting Rural News at his home, a small farm in North Canterbury, Tony Hall proudly shows off his latest innovation, a large 10kW solar power array mounted in a paddock near the house.

He pulls out his smartphone to demonstrate the system's online interface. On an autumn morning, with the sun still low and shadows on several of the panels, it is already producing about 4kW.

Hall investigated going solar five years ago, and again three years ago, but found the economics did not add up. Now they do, he says.

"The payback period will be quite short. The return on investment will be something like 6-7%, I think. Compare that with having the money in the bank."

The system went in only last Christmas. Hall says battery technology is not yet up to the task of storing the energy, but most of the output heats a swimming pool in summer and will heat the house in winter; the rest is exported back to the grid.

Home for Hall is an 8ha farm near Waikuku, North Canterbury, the house up a long drive shaded by mature trees. Further windbreaks of large trees stand around the property, where a small mob of sheep graze – the farm produces about 80 lambs a year – and a couple of brown hens peck about a paddock near the house.

"We came here in 1982. And there wasn't a tree on the place," Hall said. "So every tree you see, including all the big tall shelter-belts – we planted every one of those from twigs."

Hall talks enthusiastically about Lincoln University, but not so much about family. He allows only that he again has the support of a partner, following the death of his wife about six years ago, and that the property is a summer haven for grandchildren.

Involved with farming his whole life, Hall is active in various governance roles in education, business and sport. He was awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2007 for services to the community. Formerly pro-chancellor of Lincoln University, he was recently voted in as chancellor on the retirement of Tom Lambie.

He has taken over at time when he believes Lincoln has a bright future, about to embark on the Lincoln Hub project and with enrolments fast recovering from the disruption of the earthquakes.

Hall says student numbers are up 13% for 2016, despite Ministry of Education expectations of static numbers.

"If you just take our core subjects, land-based stuff, the ag-science programmes – those numbers have increased 96% since 2010."

His theory is that Christchurch students, who were in their last years of school at the time of the quakes, just wanted to get away; but their younger siblings are used to the city's post-quake reality so are happy to enrol at local institutions. Overseas students are also back after a sharp exodus.

Lincoln has yet to finalise all its quake insurance claims, but the silver lining to those delays is that the rebuilding can now dovetail into the big Lincoln Hub redevelopment, now well into its planning stages.

It is an exciting time to be in charge, says Hall.

The Hub project is largely driven by AgResearch's Future Footprint plan to move away from its Invermay and Ruakura research centres and instead develop two new hubs with Massey University – centred on food technology – and Lincoln University, centred on farming practices.

Lincoln University and AgResearch will be joined over time by Plant & Food Research, Landcare Research and industry partners such as DairyNZ, Fonterra and others, in a joint campus with symbiotic advantages for all.

Hall says there are also good reasons why Lincoln and Canterbury universities should collaborate closely.

"Their specialist area is engineering and they know a lot about water management, the engineering and hydrology, those sorts of things – whereas our expertise is in growing things.

"So there's a lot of collaboration around that. We've got joint degrees, for instance in resilience and disaster management, which came out of the earthquakes."