The location of the billboard outside of CQUniversity's Rockhampton campus ties in with the site of a new event on the Beef 2012 program, the International Beef Cattle Genetics Conference.

Following on from local community complaints that the Beef 2009 schedule didn't allow enough time for locals to attend, Beef Australia will open the trade fair at Beef 2012 on Monday, May 7, a day earlier than previous years, to coincide with the Labour Day public holiday and allow greater local community participation.

A community barbecue will also be held on the same day, while another new event, a community concert, will be held at the Rockhampton Showgrounds on Friday, May 11.

Beef Australia 2012 chairman Geoff Murphy said the beef industry is part of the community fabric of the Rockhampton region, and organisers wanted local residents to be part of the celebrations during Beef 2012.

"These new events are about ensuring that everyone in the region - even those without a connection to the beef industry - can participate in a community celebration," Mr Murphy said.

Looking ahead, Mr Murphy said he didn't believe the ongoing high Australian dollar or the fallout from the live exports to Indonesia fiasco would have an impact on visitor numbers to Beef 2012.

In fact, Mr Murphy said organisers were hoping to attract some 80,000 visitors to Beef 2012 - an ambitious target, given that just over 70,000 people attended Beef 2009.

It's been estimated Beef Australia events provide an $8 million boost to the local economy, and that over the past 12 years they have directly contributed over $38m in direct tourism spending in the Central Queensland region.