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Rural Leadership Advancement Scholarship 2026 – applications now open

B+LNZ is offering a $4,000 contribution towards a place on any Rural Leaders programme for six livestock farmers to advance their leadership skills and impact on the sector.  Applications close 11 October 2026.

Find out more

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E-diary notices: 4 September 2026

Complete our sheep genetics survey, Resources available for lambing in bad weather, Apply now for Primary ITO Production Management course

Do your cattle need a spring drench?

Cattle often get a drench in the springtime, but this may not be necessary for all animals.  Wormwise consultant and vet Mary Bowron explains the variables that need to be taken into consideration.

B+LNZ leadership scholarship applications now open

Six livestock farmers will have the opportunity to build their leadership skills and expand their impact on the sector through the Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) Rural Leadership Advancement Scholarship programme.

Happy first birthday Bella!

One year in, Bella, our Beef + Lamb Assistant powered by AI, is proving her worth. Trained on B+LNZ’s Knowledge Hub resources, she’s helping farmers round up trusted information and practical answers they can put to work on farm.

DAGI is now live – helping farmers make the invisible visible

Worm challenge isn’t always easy to see. DAGI (Drench and Grazing Integration) makes it visible, using paddock traffic lights to show wormy paddocks and help farmers make better grazing decisions. After nine months of beta trials, DAGI is now live, with Beef + Lamb New Zealand as a proud funding partner.

image of Lamb survival focus group looking at lamb autopsy

Using post-mortems to aid lamb survival

A quick lamb post- mortem can be a valuable tool for identifying any underlying diseases or ewe management issues that could be contributing to lamb losses.

Image of farmers cutting and preparing meat for event

E-diary notices: 28 August 2026

Spotted something in our weekly e-diary newsletters and need to refer to it again?

image of farmer overlooking sheep infront of pine trees

What the Opportunity Party policies could mean

In the run-up to the General Election, a number of farmers have asked us what the Opportunity Party’s policies could mean for sheep and beef farm businesses.

image of black angus cows infront of wooden gate

B+LNZ: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment report on the ETS a helpful contribution to discussion

Beef + Lamb New Zealand says the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s report on the current design of New Zealand’s Emissions Trading Scheme supports many of B+LNZ’s positions and will encourage important discussions.

image of Annabel, Sarah and Ginny with newborn lambs

Veterinary lubricant valuable lambing tool

Farmers at a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand Lamb Survival Focus Group in North Canterbury heard how veterinary lubricant – and lots of it – can help get the best outcome when lambing ewes.

Making every kilogram count

Nearly 70 farmers gathered at Punawai in Eighty Eight Valley for the latest B+LNZ Tasman Farming for Profit field day, which focused on how to grow more kilograms out the gate and lift farm profitability.

Celebrating excellence in rural advice

B+LNZ is proud to congratulate the winners of the 2026 Institute of Rural Professionals Awards, announced in Wellington recently.

B+LNZ Scholar Jess Smith

On the face of it, genetics and accounting are two very different disciplines, but Massey University student and Beef + Lamb New Zealand Scholar Jess Smith has found the opposite to be true.

image of farmers at field day in paddock

E-diary notices: 21 August 2026

Export markets update, Making Meat Better website refresh

image of green farm and freshwater in background

B+LNZ update on environmental policy advocacy: August 2026

The following was emailed to farmers on 20 August 2026.

image of river running through farm and autumn colours

Freshwater Farm Plan changes pragmatic

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has cautiously welcomed the changes to Freshwater Farm Plans announced yesterday.

Image of people body condition scoring sheep in yard

Profits, taxes and the future

The challenge of deciding what to do with an economic surplus was the theme of a recent Beef + Lamb New Zealand North Canterbury Farming for Profit workshop at Greta Valley.

Young shepherds sharpen skills in Waitomo

Around 50 young shepherds from across the Waikato recently came together at B+LNZ's Shepherds' Day workshop for a hands-on day of learning, focused on working dogs, nutrition and farm technology.

Survey shows continued shift towards beef cattle

New Zealand's livestock mix continued to shift towards beef cattle over the past year, according to Beef + Lamb New Zealand’s latest stock number survey.

image of two females on-farm at field day

E-diary notices: 14 August 2026

Spotted something in our weekly e-diary newsletters and need to refer to it again?

image of field day in Gisborne woman throwing gumboot

Community rallies behind East Coast recovery

Through B+LNZ's East Coast Recovery initiative, partners, sponsors, volunteers and community organisations have collectively mobilised an estimated $250,000 worth of materials, resources and support to help East Coast farming communities continue recovering from January's severe weather event.

image of mary bowron infront of sheep pen

Mary Bowron wins Best Sheep and Beef Vet Award

B+LNZ’s Wormwise veterinarian Mary Bowron has won the Best Sheep and Beef Vet of the Year Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to New Zealand's sheep and beef sector.

image of cool beef team on farm infront of cows

Cool Beef programme launched to support more efficient New Zealand beef cattle

A new research programme to support the development of breeding tools for more feed-efficient beef cattle was officially launched today at Te Mania Angus in North Canterbury. 

Lambing kit aids lamb survival

With lambing getting underway in many regions, Beef + Lamb New Zealand is encouraging farmers to put together a well-equipped lambing kit to help minimise lamb losses, particularly in bad weather.

Progeny Test adopts new name to better reflect its role

B+LNZ’s long-running Dairy Beef Progeny Test has been renamed the Beef-on-Dairy Progeny Test. While the programme itself remains unchanged, the new name better reflects its purpose and aligns with terminology now commonly used across the sector and internationally.

image of Zowie Ransfield B+LNZ Digital Content & Website Manager and Will Jerffares B+LNZ Comms Specialist

E-diary notices: 7 August 2026

Want to feature in our 2027 Parasite Management Calendar?

Meet Bella – your B+LNZ Knowledge Hub assistant

Like any good heading dog, Bella (Beef + Lamb Assistant) will listen to your commands – tell her what you want to know and she’ll round up an answer from the Knowledge Hub in no time.

Ask Bella How Bella can help

Find events in your region

Events in your region

All events

image of Farmer Council and Kāhui posing for group photo

B+LNZ Mid Northern North Island Farmer Council Annual Meeting and Dinner

Thu 17 Sep

Waikato/King Country/BoP

B+LNZ Southern South Island Farmer Council Annual Meeting 2026

Wed 28 Oct

Southland