Enrich: On-farm & Community News
  • People and community
  • Partnerships

Article

The message from People Expo 2026: Put people at the centre

  • People and community
  • Partnerships
4 Sep 2026 3 min read

Our reflection on this year’s People Expo brings to mind a whakataukī we have heard so often: He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

This proverb perfectly captures the key message that emerged from the 2026 People Expo. Delivered in partnership by DairyNZ and Dairy Women’s Network, the People Expo brought together more than 400 farmers and rural professionals across four events in Dunsandel, Palmerston North, Te Awamutu and Invercargill.

This year’s theme, Stepping up or stepping back: Planning your next stage in dairy farming, sparked important conversations about progression, succession and the future of our sector.
 


One message was consistently reinforced throughout the events: transition and progression are two sides of the same story. When experienced farmers step back well, share their knowledge and create opportunities for others, the next generation can step up with confidence. This is how resilient farm businesses are built and how the dairy sector continues to grow and evolve. There was a clear call for those stepping back to create genuine pathways for people growing in the industry and to make space for the new ideas, skills and energy they bring.

Another strong theme was the importance of people planning. Successful farm businesses depend on successful partnerships that are built on trust, shared values and mutual respect. A common understanding of what matters helps you work towards shared goals.

Some of the most powerful insights came from the farmer panel. Participants were asked to share their ’gold nuggets’ on transition and progression. These were some of the responses:

  • Make people your number one.
  • Don’t rush. Take the time to find the right people.
  • Have good mentors, people that see more in you than you see in yourself.

Never underestimate the value of people. In tough seasons it’s the people that shine.


Farmers were encouraged to take time to reflect on their personal values and long-term aspiration and to understand what success looks like for them.

Best-selling author and chart-topping podcaster James Laughlin encouraged attendees to get radically clear on what they want and to understand that high performance is about consistently exceeding norms, while maintaining good health and relationships.

Success starts with clarity, but it’s often achieved through the support, encouragement and challenge provided by the people around us.

As the 2026 People Expo demonstrated, at the heart of every successful farm business are the people who lead, support, mentor and work alongside one another.

And as the whakataukī reminds us, the most important thing in the world is, and always will be, people.


Article supplied by Dairy Womens' Network and written by written by Jules Benton, Dairy Women’s Network CEO and Jane Muir, DairyNZ Senior People Specialist.