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.
Bella is more than a search tool. Her strength is in creating – helping farmers bring together B+LNZ’s knowledge to tackle a specific question, task or challenge.
Farmers have used Bella to create farm plans, checklists and documents for farm assurance programmes, as well as to work through their own specific questions. It’s another way to make the information B+LNZ has developed over many years easier to access and apply.
Accessibility is a big part of Bella’s value. Farmers can ask a question in their own words, without needing to know where to look or what search terms to use, and get an answer based on B+LNZ’s verified Knowledge Hub resources.
Bella is also proving useful to the people who work alongside farmers. Advisors, consultants and extension teams can use her to prepare event runsheets, develop questions for discussion, or support discussion and focus groups to get more from their time together.
She doesn’t replace human advice, experience or expertise. Instead, Bella adds another tool to the mix, helping people access relevant information and support better conversations and decisions.
Her reach is extending beyond the farm, too. Through our work with the Horticulture and Agriculture Teachers’ Association (HATA), Bella is being used in secondary schools, as well as in universities and through Primary ITO. This gives people learning about sheep and beef farming, and those just starting their careers, an accessible way to explore B+LNZ’s broad range of knowledge and resources.
The numbers show there’s strong interest, too. In her first 12 months, Bella’s page recorded 19,264 views, averaging 1,605 views a month and making it the most-viewed Knowledge Hub page since her launch.
For B+LNZ, Bella is another way to turn farmers’ levy investment into practical value. She makes the research, science, information and resources developed for the sector easier to access and use.
And after one year, she’s only getting started. As the saying goes, this is the worst she will ever be. There are plenty of new tricks in the works, with more ways for Bella to help farmers get value from B+LNZ’s knowledge.
Got a question, a job to tackle or a plan to put together? Ask Bella and see how B+LNZ’s knowledge can help you get it sorted on farm.
