A feature report on the upcoming 13^th annual Soybean Promotion Day, Jan 24, at Murray State University.  Event coordinator, Dr. Tony Brannon, Dean of the Hutson School of Agriculture, runs down the agenda for a truly beneficial program, which includes farm broadcast veteran Orion Samuelson and DTN senior market analyst Darin Newsom. Brannon says the event is free of charge but asks everyone to make a reservation by emailing: msusoypromoday@gmail.com.

Findings of the latest Marketbasket Food Price Survey show the final quarter of 2016 saw a slight drop in the average cost of staple items in the typical Kentucky shopping cart. Farm Bureau’s Tim Thornberry provides details on the ups and downs of pricing and some of the trends that impacted them.

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With persistence and landowner cooperation says Ky Fish and Wildlife specialist, John Hast, that agency should continue its efforts to successfully eliminate the problem of wild pigs in Kentucky. Imported as a hunting alternative, “sounders” of wild pigs are causing crop loss and environmental damage in isolated areas, and are out-competing native game species for available natural foods.

An update on progress with the Grain and Forage Center of Excellence being headed up by UK Grains Specialist, Dr. Chad Lee.  He says design and planning is moving ahead at a good pace, and that discussion of the new facility in Princeton should get plenty of attention at the Ky Commodity Conference this Thursday in Bowling Green.

A survey is now underway in preparation for the upcoming Census of Agriculture.  Dave Knopf with the regional office of NASS, the National Ag Statistics Service, says Kentucky farmers should have received their “pre-classification” mailing which is designed to reduce duplication and data errors in the ag census being taken at the end of 2017.

CBOT futures closed mostly lower as traders prepared for tomorrow’s USDA reports on grain stocks, wheat seedings, and US/World Supply-Demand.  Cattle futures closed lower and in relatively narrow price ranges. This comes after the sharp price gains on Monday and Tuesday.  Lean Hog futures closed slightly higher on stronger cash hog prices and a sharp jump in the pork cutout value that more than erased Tuesday’s drop. 

CBOT futures closed near steady to higher with the soy complex leading the market for a second straight day.  Soybeans, meal and soyoil futures closed at the high end of the range.  Cattle futures closed sharply higher despite lower beef prices. Boxed beef values dropped sharply.  Lean Hog futures closed higher with the nearby February LH contract leading the way up. The gains came in sympathy with cattle’s sharp rally and a dollar/cwt increase in cash prices.

CBOT futures closed higher with soy and wheat leading the market up and posting closes at the very high end of the day’s trading range.  Cattle futures closed strongly higher with the biggest gains in the Feb and April LC contracts. Futures started the day on a weak tone but soon turned higher.  Lean Hog futures closed higher except for February LH dropping 22 cents. All LH contracts opened lower this morning under pressure from weaker cash hog prices and February LH’s sharp premium to the CME Cash Index.