Beef + Lamb New Zealand to Connect with Farmers at Central Districts Field Days 2026
Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) is looking forward to connecting with farmers, rural professionals and community members at this year's Central District Field Days.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand says it is seeing strong farmer interest in its newly launched nProve Beef genetics tool, with early feedback and usage insights confirming its value in helping farmers make better breeding decisions and drive genetic improvement in New Zealand's beef herd.
From March to June 2025, sessions on the nProve platform surged by 76% compared to the same period last year, up from 5069 to 8902.
This growth is almost entirely due to the launch of nProve Beef, which attracted 3800 sessions, making up 41% of total traffic.
nProve Beef is a key output of the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme, which aims to enable the uptake of improved genetics across the beef industry by providing farmers with practical tools tailored to New Zealand farming systems.
"The response to nProve Beef has exceeded expectations," says Dan Brier, general manager, farming excellence at Beef + Lamb New Zealand.
"It confirms that there's strong demand among farmers for tools that take the guesswork out of bull selection and help build more productive, profitable and resilient beef herds.
"Farmers are not just clicking in, they're staying on the site. The average session duration exceeds six minutes, highlighting real engagement with the tool.
"While use of the original nProve Sheep tool has remained steady, the rapid adoption of nProve Beef demonstrates the strong appetite among commercial beef farmers and bull breeders."
The top five regions using th etool - greater Auckland, Canterbury, greater Wellington, Manawatū-Whanganui and Otago - show the tool's reach across a range of farming environments.
The INZB Programme, a seven-year partnership between Beef + Lamb New Zealand and the Ministry for Primary Industries' Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund, is focused on building a sustainable future for New Zealand's beef sector.
The programme is investing in new genetic evaluation tools, data systems, and extension to increase the rate of genetic gain and help farmers select animals that perform well in New Zealand conditions.
"Genetics are a key lever for long-term change," says Brier.
"The annual decision of which sires to buy, impacts the production and profit of a farm for many years.
"By making powerful tools like nProve accessible to farmers, we're helping to accelerate that change and build a more productive, efficient and environmentally sustainable beef industry."
Matt McRae, a farmer from Mokoreta in Southland who runs a sheep, beef and dairy support business alongside a sheep stud, has been elected to the Beef +Lamb NZ Board as a farmer director.
Ravensdown's next evolution in smart farming technology, HawkEye Pro, was awarded the Technology Section Award at the Southern Field Days Farm Innovation Awards in February 2026.
While mariners may recognise a “dog watch” as a two-hour shift on a ship, the Good Dog Work Watch is quite a different concept and the clever creation of Southland siblings Grace (9) and Archer Brown (7), both pupils at Riverton Primary School.
Philip and Lyneyre Hooper of the Hoopman Family Trust have tonight been named the Taranaki Regional Supreme Winners at the Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
We are not a bunch of sky cowboys. That was one of the key messages from the chairperson of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association (NZAAA) Kent Weir, speaking at an education day at Feilding aerodrome for 25 policymakers and regulators from central and local government and other rural professionals.
New Zealand's dairy and beef industries say they welcome the announcement that the Government will invest $10.49 million in the Dairy Beef Opportunities (DBO) programme.