The American Meat Science Association (AMSA) has announced the addition of an additional PORK 101 course to be held in 2018 at the University of Florida March 5-7. With the addition of the course, AMSA says it can expand the outreach of this valuable program and enable others to take advantage of the great opportunity to learn from our outstanding AMSA members.

Save the dates and make plans for you and your colleagues to attend:

  • March 5-7 at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, Florida
  • May 22-24 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas
  • October 22-24 at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa

PORK 101 is hosted by AMSA in cooperation with the National Pork Board and is sponsored by Merck Animal Health. Attendees will experience firsthand the swine industry from live animal production through finished pork products. The course concludes with the attendees preparing and sampling products from pork carcasses including pumped loins, bacon, hams, and sausage.

Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the value differences in swine, pork carcasses, pork primals and processed pork products from meat science faculty and AMSA members at each university.

The program features:

  • General Production Practices
  • Hog Handling
  • Grading and Live Hog Evaluation
  • Lean Value Pricing
  • Quality Management at Slaughter
  • Hands-On Pork Slaughter
  • Measuring Carcass Quality and Composition
  • Hands-On Pork Carcass Fabrication
  • Processing Technologies and Hands-On Lab
  • Retail and Consumer Hot Topics

PORK 101 is co-sponsored by the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP), North American Meat Institute Foundation (NAMIF), Southeastern Meat Association  (SEMA), and the Southwest Meat Association (SMA).  Registration for AMSA members and other partnering organizations is $825. Non-member registration is $975. Companies or organizations sending more than one person to the course are eligible for a discount! Space is limited for each course so make sure to register soon!

Past attendees of the AMSA PORK 101 Course can attest to the importance of attending.

  • “The instructors were so accommodating and knowledgeable, and the course was very well structured.  I would highly recommend this class to anyone and everyone in the meat industry – especially marketing or sales personnel.” 
  • “I can speak to the entire process of how pork is harvested now. Understanding the primals and the bone-in/boneless cuts is very important in my role.”
  • “Great course! I felt like the hands-on cutting was a great learning tool where I grew more familiar with each of the cuts of pork.”

For more information or questions regarding PORK 101 please visit: http://www.meatscience.org/events-education/pork-101 or contact Deidrea Mabry dmabry@meatscience.org.

Source: AMSA