Upcoming Sessions
Upcoming Pixel Virtual Sessions
| Pearls of Production Upcoming Virtual Sessions June-October | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Speaker | Session Title | Description | Registration |
| 6/24/2025 | Mallory Rahe, associate extension professor, University of Missouri | Can AI help me solve my marketing problems? | Join us for the second virtual session, a hands-on demo and practical discussion on using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to build content calendars, write marketing copy, and create images. Learn how AI can save you time, spark ideas, and strengthen your farm’s marketing efforts. No tech experience needed — just curiosity! | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
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