McNee says the business' current growth rate is around 7 per cent per year although it has just done 17.6 per cent in its half year -- growth that isn't expected to remain that high for its full year.
To get to the billion it needs to grow at around 15 per cent per annum.
He says this can be done through organic growth, acquisitions, partnerships and through selling its software and hardware solutions around the world.
It has already made moves in the acquisition space. Last year it snapped up Dairy Automation Ltd and has rolled it together with its Protrack business to create a new wholly owned subsidiary called LIC Automation.
McNee says the new subsidiary will have 50 staff based in one place with the potential to grow to 80 over the next few years. By splitting it off into its own division it is hoped that the business will create more synergies. "We have 850 staff (at LIC). There are a lot internal processes. By splitting it off we hope it will be more innovative and creative."
The automation division includes its Protrack system which tracks individual cows as they come into the milking shed. By reading the cow's tag the system can tell the farmer who the cow is and identify whether it needs to be held back from milking for some reason such as mastitis or treatment for other illnesses.
The system can also identify whether a cow is in heat and ready for insemination and drafts them off for further examination.
Protrack links into LIC's MINDA database -- what McNee calls its births, deaths and marriages register.
The division also incorporates its CellSense and YieldSense technologies which allow farmers to monitor the somatic cell count of their animals which can indicate mastitis and monitor milk production levels, fat and protein content and lactose.
It is that technology which McNee is hoping will be attractive globally.
In April LIC signed a partnership arrangement with Dutch firm Lely Group which it hopes will help support global distribution of its inline milk sensors. As part of the deal LIC has bought Lely's New Zealand based Sensortec business which will be incorporated into LIC Automation.
McNee said Lely had a strong reputation for delivering innovative technology systems worldwide and working with the company on research would boost new developments in sensor technology.
The partnership follows LIC's agreement with cow intelligence company SCR Dairy to distribute LIC sensors into Israel, Belarus, Russia, and TurkeyT
McNee said it would continue to look for acquisitions both locally and off-shore. "There are a lot of start-ups to look at. They are interesting but have a long way to go before they have a product.
"So we are looking off-shore as well."
But he said the barrier for off-shore acquisitions was higher.
While buying a New Zealand business could be used to provide its New Zealand farmer owners with more products and services, an off-shore business would likely only benefit them through increased revenues and dividends.
As well as distribution of its software LIC is looking to sell more of its hardware offshore.
McNee said hardware was a more competitive market but its advantage lay in the ability to retrofit existing milking sheds.
"In many markets the technology available is expensive and comes with the existing package. But our advantage is that our technology can be retrofitted."
It can cost up to $1.5 million to replace a whole cow shed. But replacing it with some LIC automation can cost between $20 to 80,000, he said.
"These are some of the areas where we are looking to get growth."
But he said the growth plans were not without challenges and some farmers had questioned the strategy in light of falling milk prices.
"Yes it is a difficult time for shareholders."
McNee said it depended how long the milk price remains low as to how much of an impact it has on its growth plans.
"Like everybody we will see how long it lasts"
"We have got plans over the next five years, beyond that it's hard to pick the future.
