On February 22, 2018, Michigan Pork Producers Association will host the annual Michigan Pork Symposium. The conference will be held at The Lansing Center in Lansing, Mich.

This all-day event will focus on educating producers about good production practices and excellent business management approaches to help them provide a growing human population an environmentally-safe, socially-acceptable, low-cost source of meat.

The 2018 Michigan Pork Symposium will bring pig farmers and industry representatives from around the state together to share information about the ever-changing industry. This year’s symposium brings together speakers from both the academic and business worlds in order to better prepare producers for the challenges they face in their quest to produce the world’s food supply.

Dr. Larry Firkins, a Professor and the Associate Dean for Public Engagement at the University of Illinois, College of Veterinary Medicine, will be speaking about getting work done through others. He will also present a breakout session about transitioning employees to team members.

Dr. Steve Meyer, Vice-President of Pork Analysis at EMI Analytics, will also be speaking at the conference with updates on the pork industry.

Along with Dr. Firkins and Dr. Meyer speaking, the conference will have two tracks for attendees, focusing on both sow production and growing/finishing operations.

The sow production track will feature topics such as fixed-time insemination, employee management, day-one pig care, sow housing and selection, sow longevity, farrowing, breeding and caring for the gilt through her first litter.
Growing and finishing topics include ventilation, economics of manure, packer audits, pig start-up/successful transition, barn cleaning and maintenance and managing the unexpected outbreak.

The day will finish with a sponsor reception, giving participants the opportunity to visit with the sponsors and presenters. The event costs $60 for one registration, $25 for a second registration and $15 for a third registration. For more information and registration, visit mipork.org or contact MPPA at schmitt@mipork.org or 517-853-3782.