The rest of the economy should be jealous
Fieldays 2026 opened at Mystery Creek on 10 June with all 1,335 exhibitor sites sold out and more than 100,000 visitors expected over four days. That is not a feel-good story about tractors in the sun. It is a leading indicator of where capital is actually moving in New Zealand, because exhibitor commitments are made months in advance and require serious money upfront.
Fieldays CEO Richard Lindroos is blunt about it: ‘If you want to see what drives New Zealand, Fieldays is where it happens.’
The confidence is backed by cash. New Zealand’s food and fibre sector posted record export revenue of $60.4 billion in the year to June 2025, up 13% on the prior year. MPI forecasts that climbing to $62 billion by June 2026 and $63.2 billion by June 2027. The sector accounts for 82.9% of goods exports and 15.3% of GDP, supporting roughly 360,000 jobs.
At the farm gate, a $10 milk price, record beef prices and strong sheep meat returns are filling balance sheets that spent two years under pressure. The Reserve Bank’s OCR cuts from 5.5% to 2.25% have slashed debt-servicing costs across the sector.
The Investment Boost landed at exactly the right time
The Government’s Investment Boost policy, which lets businesses immediately deduct 20% of new capital equipment costs from taxable income, has collided with a commodity upswing. Machinery vendors at Fieldays say it is pulling purchasing decisions forward.
New Holland sales manager Dave Knowles told the Herald: ‘The Government’s 20% depreciation has sparked a lot of discussion actually so we’ve got quite a full order book.’ CNH business manager John Gilbert is targeting more than the 40 tractors his team sold at last year’s event. BYD’s Warren Willmot, exhibiting the Shark 6 hybrid ute for the first time, reported ‘phenomenal’ feedback and dozens of truck sales.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay summed it up on Morning Report: ‘The recovery is being led by the primary sector and it’s virtually across the board.’
Two economies, one country
Here is why this matters beyond the farm gate. Treasury’s Budget Economic and Fiscal Update forecasts GDP growth of just 1.2% in 2025/26, with residential investment hitting a post-GFC low of 4.7% of GDP. Urban construction and consumer spending remain weak.
Hayden Dillon, head of agribusiness at Findex, makes the geographic divide explicit: ‘Our $80 billion export engine is helping kick-start regional economies that have been sluggish. The highest unemployment rate is in Auckland and the lowest is in Southland.’ That is not a coincidence. It is commodity prices flowing directly into regional payrolls while urban centres wait for domestic demand that has not arrived.
Don Good, CEO of the Waikato Chamber of Commerce, says farmers are investing in upgrades and money is beginning to flow through to the wider Waikato economy, though spending remains more disciplined than in previous cycles.
Rural property markets tell the same story. REINZ data for the year to June 2025 showed dairy farm sales up 100% in Southland, 53.5% in Canterbury and 16.2% in Waikato.
Global capital is paying attention too
Fieldays 2026 drew 73 international exhibitors, up from 66 in 2025, with 254 exhibitors connecting internationally. Germany expanded its pavilion. Tesla brought the Cybertruck for the first time. This is not a provincial show anymore. It is a signal that global agribusiness capital sees New Zealand’s primary sector as worth competing for.
The question urban businesses should be asking
The Investment Boost applies to every business, not just farmers. Yet the machinery vendors at Mystery Creek are the ones reporting full order books. If urban businesses are sitting on the same tax incentive and not using it, that is not a policy failure. It is a confidence gap.
New Zealand’s export-facing productive economy is generating the cash and the conviction that the domestic economy cannot. The uncomfortable implication is straightforward. If your business is not positioned to capture some of the capital flowing through regional economies right now, you are watching the only real growth engine in the country from the wrong side of the Bombay Hills.
Sources
- BusinessDesk: Fieldays 2026: Sunshine, spending and an election (2026-06-08)
- RNZ: More than 100,000 expected at Fieldays as agricultural sector booms (2026-06-11)
- RNZ: ‘We’re quite excited’: Fieldays farmer spending tipped to hit new highs (2026-06-11)
- NZ Herald: Fieldays farmers spend big as retailers share optimism (2026-06-11)
- NZ Herald: Farmers enjoy strong seasons but keep spending tight (2026-06-09)
- NZ Herald: Fieldays 2026 sees surge in global exhibitors and delegations (2026-06-09)
- Rural News Group: Fieldays 2026 sold out (2026-06-08)
- MPI: Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) December 2025 (2025-12)
- Treasury: Budget Economic and Fiscal Update 2026 (2026-05-28)