Columbia, Mo.,—The 2025 University of Missouri Youth Pork Institute, sponsored by the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the Missouri Pork Association, was held June 9 through June 11 in Columbia. High school students interested in the pork industry spent three days at this educational event.

Students toured the Mizzou campus and attended several educational sessions focused on areas such as biosecurity, pork processing, nutrition, breeding and market hog evaluation, meat evaluation, biomedical pigs, ultra sounding, and artificial insemination. They were also introduced to a variety of career opportunities within the pork industry and an overview of cooking pork with a chef. At the end of the three-day long institute, students took an exam covering all the information learned. The top two scoring students were each awarded a scholarship.

On June 11, Keenan Kleiboeker and Eli Rajawitz each received a $1,000 scholarship to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia as long as they enter with an agriculture-based major upon completion of high school. Keenan is from Stotts City, and Eli is from Dixon.

Other students attending the event included Delaney Gerke, Boonville; Layla Guthals, Gower; Michaela Miller, Bogard; Grant Thompson, Fredericktown; Dane Laut, Fredericktown; and Brock Pitt, Norborne.

Also attending were the 2025 Missouri Youth Pork Ambassadors: Rachel Case from LaPlata, and Callie and Clayton Jennings from Laddonia. The event was organized by the Missouri Pork Association Summer Intern Annie Robinson from Wellsville, in conjunction with Heather Conrow, University of Missouri Extension.

The Missouri Pork Association represents the state’s pork producers in the areas of promotion, research, education, and public policy. For more information about this or any other Missouri Pork Association programs, visit www.mopork.com, or call (573) 445-8375.

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