Mark Eager, chief executive of Health & Wellbeing Hub lead partner Mobile Health Group, said that, while the overall mood across rural communities felt more buoyant this year, perhaps helped by a mild autumn and a break from the rain, health concerns remained front and centre.
The number of visitors through the hub was consistent with previous years, sitting around the 30,000 mark, but what stood out most was the depth of engagement, Eager said.
“We had a number of people comment that they’d been coming to Fieldays for years but had never stepped inside the hub before.
“This year, they did — and many stayed for quite some time.”
He said the feedback from exhibitors reflected a shift too: conversations were more personal, more meaningful.
“People were opening up about health issues they’d been putting off or worried about — not just for themselves, but for partners, parents, or teenage kids.”
Mental health
Eager said mental health continued to be a theme, but the way it showed up was often layered — people spoke about financial stress, uncertainty, or climate impacts on the farm, and then looped back around to how it was really affecting them.
“What’s encouraging is that more people seem willing to talk about it, even if only in passing.
“So, while some of the core challenges remain, the willingness to connect and ask for help seems to be growing.
“That’s a positive sign — and a big part of why the hub exists.”
The Rural Advocacy Hub, a collaboration between Fieldays and Federated Farmers, returned for its second year.
Federated Farmers national president Wayne Langford said the hub proved to be a huge success – “going from strength to strength since we launched it last year”.
The hub again proved to be a critical platform for discussing the industry’s most important topics, with 14 Government ministers speaking, Langford said.
“Ministers are starting to see the value of being in the hub, showing up en masse to speak with farmers and hear what’s on their minds.”
Langford said the biggest talking points centred on forestry, Waikato Regional Council’s Plan Change 1, which would set rules for agricultural land use to improve water quality in the Waikato and Waipa catchments, methane targets, and young farmers’ KiwiSaver.
The Careers & Education Hub was booked by 93 schools from across the country, up from 57 last year.
Chappell said this translated into about 2400 students.
The Careers and Education Hub was introduced at Fieldays a decade ago.
Chappell said this had grown year on year, with 40 secondary schools coming through in 2021.
Diverse offering
Chappell said this year the hub was the most diverse ever, covering options and opportunities available in the rural sector.
Sites were interactive and mainly aimed at the secondary school level, along with those looking for a career change.
Students and visitors could also take part in engagement sessions hosted by hub exhibitors.
These included Crafft, an online educational tool looking at how food is grown and how the land works, based on the best-selling video game Minecraft.
Another was Sow the Seed, a collaborative effort between the Horticulture and Agriculture Teachers Association of New Zealand and the Agricultural and Horticultural Science Advisory Team.
Also on hand was MITO, which supports on-the-job learning for people working in the automotive, commercial road transport, extractives, drilling, gas and logistics industries.
Growing Future Farmers promoted its two-year programme where students learn practical workplace skills on a farm, while students learnt about real-life, practical training opportunities available at Telford – Southern Institute of Technology.
Young Fish NZ, a networking group for young people (under 35) involved in all parts of the seafood industry, joined Seafood NZ in the hub.
Others who hosted engagement sessions included GoHort, a Horticulture New Zealand career development programme, and New Zealand Plant Producers Incorporated.
The Ministry for Primary Industries, dairy giant Fonterra and the Agribusiness in Schools programme also featured.
Alongside the exhibitors, visitors could activate the Fieldays Careers & Education Trail layer on the map on the Fieldays App to see all those participating.
