The Border region’s beef industry is on show to international visitors in April as Charles Sturt University’s (CSU) Institute for Land, Water and Society hosts five livestock scientists from the South East Asian nation of Laos. The group are studying beef and goat production across the region, visiting local properties, meatworks and the Wodonga saleyards and talking with livestock extension officers. The program, led by CSU’s Dr Joanne Millar, is funded by the Crawford Fund, which supports agricultural training for developing country scientists. Dr Millar, who has worked in livestock development in Laos for the last six years, said the program aims to “increase the knowledge and skills of Laotian extension officers’ in advanced cattle production and marketing, while they also learn how to run beef production courses for farmers. This is the first time that provincial and district livestock officers from Laos have been to Australia. The scientists work closely with farmers who are struggling to improve their livelihoods from their own beef herds.”