Upcoming Sessions

Upcoming Pixel Virtual Sessions

Pearls of Production Upcoming Virtual Sessions June-October
Date Speaker Session Title Description Registration
6/24/2025 Beth Koster, Coordinator of Outreach/Injury Prevention, University of Missouri Stop the Bleed "Stop the Bleed" is a nationwide public awareness campaign aimed at empowering bystanders to recognize and effectively manage severe bleeding in emergency situations, by teaching them basic techniques like applying direct pressure, packing wounds, and using tourniquets, with the goal of saving lives before professional medical help arrives.

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7/22/2025 Dr. Allison Meyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Nutritional Physiology/Ruminant Nutrition, University of Missouri Feeding and managing pregnant beef cows and heifers for calf success Management and nutrition of cows and heifers during late pregnancy can have long consequences-both positive and negative-for themselves and their calves. This webinar will focus on recent Mizzou research that gives us more insight into this critical period.

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9/23/2025 Dr. Andrea Pitkin, DVM, MS, Technical Service Veterinarian - Swine, Vaxxinova US SRP Technology Does your herd have gut issues? This session ensures diarrhea is no longer a dirty word. It is something we should talk about! Because, good news! Research shows YOU ARE NOT ALONE! And with custom-made SRP vaccines, we can help wipe diarrhea from your herd! Besides sharing some stories about the effectiveness of SRP vaccines, this session will also explain what SRP's are and how SRP vaccines target pathogenic bacteria that cause damage to the gut of animals.

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10/28/2025 Joni Harper, Natural Resources Field Specialist, University of Missouri Extension Heroes to Hives - helping veterans and women producers establish beekeeping Heroes to Hives is a unique program offered through the Michigan Food & Farming Systems that seeks to address financial and personal wellness of veterans through free professional training and community development centered around beekeeping.

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Upcoming Pearls of Production In-Person Conference

November 8 in Columbia, MO

Upcoming Pearls of Production In-Person Conference
Speaker Session Title Description Registration
Session 1: 10:00am- Noon (pick one)
Anna Guess, Key Account Manager - Swine, Vaxxinova US SRP Technology Learn what SRP's are and how SRP vaccines target pathogenic bacteria that cause damage to the gut of animals.  Through stories about the effectiveness of SRP vaccines, participants will learn through hands-on learning how these vaccines are made and how they can benefit their operations. Register
Karen Funkenbush, Extension Assistant Professor, University of Missouri

Brenda Schreck, Livestock Specialist, University of Missouri
Save the cusswords: You got this! 2.0 TBD
Dr. Allison Meyer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Nutritional Physiology/Ruminant Nutrition, University of Missouri Tips for a successful calving season Get the perspectives of a food animal veterinarian and a cow-calf nutritionist/physiologist on how to ensure that your next calving season goes as smoothly as possible!
Lunch & Learn: Noon-1:00pm
NRCS, FSA, SWCD Show Me the Money TBD
Session 2: 1:00-3:00 (pick one)
Joni Harper, Natural Resources Field Specialist, University of Missouri Extension Heroes to Hives - helping veterans and women producers establish beekeeping Heroes to Hives is a unique program offered through the Michigan Food & Farming Systems that seeks to address financial and personal wellness of veterans through free professional training and community development centered around beekeeping.
Jamie Courter, State Beef Genetics Extension Specialist, University of Missouri Genetics for a Better Cow Producers are always looking for ways to increase fertility in their cow herds. While increasing fertility is important, and a great first step, it’s a lowly heritable trait. While somewhat controlled by genetics, lowly heritable traits can be impacted by management and environment. Instead of focusing solely on increasing fertility, we will discuss other ways to increase pounds of calf weaned per cow exposed.
Dr. Pamela Adkins, Associate Professor, Food Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri Small Ruminant Neonatal Care The session will cover dystocia management, early life diseases in kids/lambs, and preventative measures to help optimize kid/lamb health.  Hands on activities will include practicing dystocia management, tubing kids, and more.
Session 3: 3:00-5:00 (one session only)
Beth Koster, Coordinator of Outreach/Injury Prevention, University of Missouri Stop the Bleed "Stop the Bleed" is a nationwide public awareness campaign aimed at empowering bystanders to recognize and effectively manage severe bleeding in emergency situations, by teaching them basic techniques like applying direct pressure, packing wounds, and using tourniquets, with the goal of saving lives before professional medical help arrives.

Past Pearls

2024 Conference

Pixels of Production - first conference date held via Zoom with a breakout session and a keynote presentation. Session topics included estate planning, backyard layers, enhancing value added meat marketing and beekeeping.  Keynote was presented by Dr. Janeal Yancey, meat scientist at University of Arkansas and Mom at the Meat Counter blog creator.

Pearls of Production - second date was held in-person at the MU Beef Research and Teaching Farm.  Participants had the opportunity to engage in hands-on breakout sessions: genetics on the farm, backyard laying hen, forage & pasture assessment and farm headaches: save your cuss works, you got this!

Pearls of Production highlights

2022 Conference

Day 1 began at 1pm and include a tour of Brinker Farm's farrow to finish swine operation, presentation on direct marketing beef, and dinner. The night ended with socializing and optional Booze & Bingo games! 

Day 2 focused on hands-on activities. Attendees rotated through breakout sessions throughout the day on the University of Missouri Campus. 

2020 Conference

Pixels of Production: Women in Agriculture online conference was offered as an alternative to the usual hands-on Pearls of Production Conference. The Missouri Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Development Program and Missouri AgrAbility Program provided financial support for the online conference. The program was offered on four evenings, each evening consisting of a keynote address and several other presentations. Check out the full playlist of events. We also have handouts and resources below.

Conference content