Women in agriculture can learn the latest techniques in swine reproduction and farrowing at the annual Pearls of Production workshop.
The event offers networking opportunities and hands-on training for women in livestock production agriculture Nov. 6-7 at the University of Missouri Animal Sciences Research Center in Columbia.
Marcia Shannon, MU Extension swine specialist and one of the organizers of the event, and extension livestock specialist Heather Conrow will demonstrate the latest techniques in artificial insemination, heat detection and semen processing. Participants test their knowledge through hands-on training.
Conrow and Shannon also share new research and training on farrowing, baby pig processing, induction and reproductive tracts.
The keynote speaker for the event is Lorenza Pasetti, president of Volpi Foods, the largest producer of prosciutto in the United States. Volpi makes more than 300 types of cured meat products in the iconic Italian-American area of St. Louis known as The Hill.
The fourth-generation business buys local Duroc hogs for long curing in drying caverns located under the streets of St. Louis.