CBOT futures closed mixed but only after a day with wide trading ranges – corn, 10 cents; soybeans, 50 cents; wheat, 19 cents).  Live and Feeder cattle futures closed sharply higher today with Live erasing yesterday’s large losses. The rally was fueled by short-covering and profit-taking ahead of the weekend.

CBOT futures closed mostly higher but corn futures made new life-of-contract low closes. Pressure came from expectations that weather will be more favorable after the extreme heat this week.   Cattle and hog futures closed sharply lower on weaker product values and traders’ concern for consumer demand, especially during the extreme heat.

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American bee hives have been taking a hit in recent years experiencing an over-winter loss in many colonies of up to 40%, much of that due to the Varroa Mite.  Ky Ag Dept, State Apiarist, Tammy Horn Potter talks about some research at Purdue University where they’ve discover that some hive queens have developed a “mite biting” trait, which will help fight against losses from that insect.  Purdue is beginning a program of sharing that genetic trait with beekeepers across the country.

A report on a Harlan County apple producing family who, in the 80’s, was the first to develop the “Scarlet Gala,” a red version of the Gala apple, a crop which up to that time had all been yellow.  Terry Creech is featured talking about that early mutation on the family farm, and also about their ability to grow the Honeycrisp apple on nearby Black Mountain at an elevation of 4,100 feet.

Kentucky’s “Farm to Food Banks Program” offers a way for produce farmers to sell their “seconds” or deal with market disruptions in the sale of their fruits and vegetables.  Ultimately the farmer can sell his product through this program enabling him to recover the cost of production inputs.  At the same time that produce goes on to food pantries to help feed the hungry. Feldhaus visits with one of the “middlemen” in that process, Clay Black, with the Purchase Area Development District.

UK’s Corn, Soybean, and Tobacco Field Day is set for this Thursday morning at the Princeton Research and Education Center.  Extension specialist Carl Bradley is on the program and offers an overview of the schedule. He also suggests that this traditional format for providing research data to farmers is, perhaps, one of the most effective, mostly because of instant feedback and dialogue between farmer and researcher.

A feature report on Justin McKinney who has just been named Director of Farms for the ag department at Eastern Kentucky University.  McKinney talks about his background at the University of Florida, the value of research and extension, and the facilities at EKU which he says are top notch for ag students in the region.