Thursday, 11 September 2025 09:55

B+LNZ launches AI assistant for farmers

Written by Staff Reporters

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B+LNZ chair Kate Acland

Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched an AI-powered digital assistant to help farmers using the B+LNZ Knowledge Hub to create tailored answers and resources for their farming businesses.

B+LNZ chair Kate Acland says the AI digital assistant Bella was another example of B+LNZ investing in tools and support that deliver genuine value for farmers.

"Bella is only trained on B+LNZ's verified Knowledge Hub resources, providing answers that farmers can trust and use on their farms.

"She has access to around 4600 pages of information and more than 220 hours of podcasts and videos in the Knowledge Hub. Bella will revolutionise 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.

"I've been testing Bella over the past few weeks and she really is a game changer in terms of turning information into something farmers can apply on-farm.

"She can create a mind-blowing range of tailored outputs based on what you need. Bella is accessible from a farmer's smartphone so she's available anywhere - she puts the power in farmers' hands."

Bella's testing has involved more than 100 farmers, students, researchers and advisors over two months, and she is the end result of nearly five years of investigation by B+LNZ.

Testers have been able to create everything from month-by-month plans to checklists. "So far, it seems there's not much she can't do," Acland says.

"Bella is comfortable with complex, multi-part questions, and you can speak questions instead of typing them and have the answer read back to you - all in a range of languages from Te Reo Māori to Filipino - in fact every language we have tried so far."

Bella's name comes from 'Beef + Lamb Assistant', and she uses Christchurch tech company Custom D's 'Caitlyn' AI software (also utilised by the Foundation for Arable Research).

"This means she came to us with a high degree of training already built in, and she's cost-effective," Acland says.

Acland says Bella's training is ongoing and B+LNZ will be asking farmers how they use Bella, to inform future development.

Bella can be accessed via www.AskBella.co.nz, and there is further information on how to use Bella available from that link.

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