More than 330 farmers attended B+LNZ’s Better Beef Breeding workshops held around the country during May and June.
The half-day sessions included practical tips on using nProve Beef, as well as a structural assessment component with live animals, helping farmers make more informed bull purchasing decisions that align with their breeding goals.
The workshops, which are part of the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme, are designed to help farmers understand the information presented in bull sale catalogues and learn how to structurally assess a bull.
B+LNZ has been running the workshops for several years, usually in autumn or spring, leading into the bull purchasing seasons.
They are targeted to commercial beef farmers to support knowledge around genetics, how to interpret genetic information and how to apply that through their breed association tools or using B+LNZ’s nProve Beef tool.
Sarah Powdrell, B+LNZ Genetics Extension and Operations Manager said attendance was increasing steadily.
“We have had a really good turnout this year, which shows farmers are really keen to increase their understanding of breeding values and how that relates to decision-making for their breeding system.
“We have been particularly encouraged by the response and engagement from the recent workshops. Farmers are asking a lot of questions and we have also started to see farm managers and owners bringing more junior staff along to learn about nProve Beef.”
Created by B+LNZ and launched in March 2025, nProve Beef is a multi-species tool, updated monthly, that allows farmers to easily search for bull options on one platform. It also enables farmers to specify the traits they are looking for when selecting bulls.
As part of the workshop, facilitators demonstrate how to use nProve and farmers join in using their mobile phones.
“The great thing about nProve is it can be used from the website very easily, using a computer or a phone,” says Sarah.
“The workshop is very interactive. I open nProve on my phone and have that up on a projector and we go through the very easy to follow steps, giving prompts for how to use the tool and what it is showing them.”
The workshops are all led by facilitators highly experienced in the field, she says.
“That includes vets who also have their own cattle studs. The facilitators have a strong understanding of both the theory and technical sides, so they deliver information to farmers in ways that make - what is not necessarily a simple subject - easier to understand.
“It’s about making sure farmers have the tools to help make good decisions. That is so important, because buying a bull is a significant investment and the gains they are providing in terms of the effect on their beef herd is permanent and cumulative.”
Sarah says feedback from workshop participants has been very positive.
“A number said they had used it to find bulls and it was a very easy platform to use to compare breeders and bulls within a breed. The sliders help - we generally get them to start by setting their trait sliders at 50 per cent, looking for something above breed average, and they can refine it further from there.
“Most of the workshop attendee feedback forms indicated that going into the bull buying season if people were not already using nProve they were interested to try it.”
“Breeders are also keen for more breed societies to be added to the tool, which currently includes Simmental, Hereford, Shorthorn and Angus NZ. That is something we are exploring.”
The Better Beef Breeding workshops have been made possible by funding from the seven year INZB programme, which is due to finish in September next year.
However, Sarah says B+LNZ are working to integrate the workshops into its wider extension programme.