Bella is your Beef + Lamb Assistant, powered by AI, to get the most out of Knowledge Hub resources. Simply ask her your questions and she’ll round up answers in a way that suits you.
What is an AI assistant?
AI (short for Artificial Intelligence) might sound complicated, but using Bella is simple. She’s a smart helper who understands your questions and finds the right answers using only endorsed B+LNZ Knowledge Hub farming resources.
Bella can read or hear your questions and respond with helpful answers or links to the most relevant pages, instantly.
Bella has access to around 4,600 pages of information and more than 220 hours of podcasts and videos in the Knowledge Hub. Because Bella is powered by AI, she’s a game-changer in terms of how farmers access off-the-shelf research, unlocking around $100 million worth of investment from B+LNZ and others in science-based, New Zealand-specific information and turning it into bespoke answers.
How do I talk to Bella?
Bella can understand written or spoken questions.
- For written questions or requests, type into the chat box. Simply write it how you’d ask the question if you were talking to a real person.
- For spoken questions, click on the microphone in the chat box and ask your question clearly.
- Click on the speaker button to have Bella read the answer to you (note she’s still being trained on this and will get better at it soon).
Bella is also fluent in a range of languages and can translate answers, so talk to her in your chosen language.
See the tips below to get the best results when talking to Bella.
What Bella can do
By quickly retrieving information from B+LNZ’s Knowledge Hub, Bella can:
- summarise articles or resources
- find guides, factsheets, and tools for your situation
- provide step-by-step help on common topics
- help create plans
- find local benchmarks from B+LNZ’s Farm Survey
Bella will always provide Knowledge Hub references to back up her answers – she’ll highlight where in those references she got the information.
If the information is in a podcast or video she’ll take you straight to the point it’s mentioned so you don’t have to play the whole thing.
What Bella can’t do
Using Bella can’t replace talking to a vet, farm advisor or expert, and she can’t provide advice that’s fully personalised for your farm. Instead, she’s a valuable addition to other information sources.
Bella will always provide Knowledge Hub references to back up her answers. She’ll highlight where in those references she got the information, and if the information is in a podcast or video she’ll take you straight to the point it’s mentioned so you don’t have to play the whole thing.
Tips for getting the best results
- Be specific: instead of “lambs,” try “when to drench lambs in spring”.
- Use your own words: no need for tech terms or fancy language.
- Feel free to ask detailed questions: more context is likely to get a more specific answer.
- Change it up: if Bella doesn’t get it right the first time, try asking in a different way.
Here are a few example questions:
- “How do I manage worms in lambs?”
- “Show me grazing plans for winter.”
- “What should I do before tailing?”
- “Is it safe to use nitrogen in dry conditions?”
We also recommend you save Bella to your device homescreen. With Bella open on your phone or tablet, click on the menu and select ‘Add to Homescreen’ (or equivalent, depending on type of device).
Feedback
Training is an ongoing process. Let us know if there’s something Bella needs to improve, or use the thumbs up/thumbs down buttons to rate answers and provide feedback.