The University of Minnesota Extension Service and the Minnesota Pork Board are co-sponsoring a free webcast, “Bringing and Keeping Gilts in the Breeding Herd,” from 1-2 p.m., Aug. 8.

The webcast is part of a quarterly series of Porkcast Online Seminars designed to provide research-driven information to pork production owners and managers.

The webcast will provide strategies to develop and manage gilts to maximize lifetime reproductive performance and longevity. Don Levis, Extension swine specialist, University of Nebraska, will present information on:

• Gilt selection programs and criteria;
• Growth rate and body condition during development;
• Weight and age effects on attainment of puberty;
• Methods and importance of boar exposure;
• When to breed gilts; and
• Dealing with postweaning sows that don’t cycle.

Porkcast programs can be viewed from personal computers and pre-registration is not required. Instructions and system requirements for joining the webcast are available at the university’s web site at www.extension.umn.ed/swine. For more information, contact Mark Whitney, University of Minnesota, swine Extension specialist, at (888) 241-3214 or whitn007@umn.edu.