Philip Shaw

It is a big world out there. I say that because I can remember the many times that I’ve traveled in an airplane over the world’s oceans. Believe it or not, on the other side of the world people get up just like we do and go to work hoping to get through another day….

I read a tweet the other day about fertile stripping. I only had a slight glance at the tweet, which talked about 325 bushels per acre of corn. That was quite impressive, but I had no idea what fertile stripping was. I assume it is a new buzz phrase in tillage, which I’m always the…

As surprises go, for me personally, this was a head scratcher. No, I’m not talking about last week’s USDA report. However, that probably fits in that mold too. This past spring I’ve got some wild carrot, which is growing in my soybean fields, which shouldn’t be there. I think having to leave the soybean ground…

The days have grown shorter this August, which reminds me of what might be ahead. However, I am wishing for good things, warm weather, adequate rains and a wide-open fall. This August weekend feels like a bit of the calm before the storm. On Monday we may find out how many acres of corn and…

The calendar has turned over into August and I can hardly believe that July is in the rear view mirror. In the deep southwest of Ontario this year July was a planting month. I hope we don’t see that in 2020 and beyond. The crops look pretty good in my area now except for one…

If there is a one constant as a farmer it’s watching the weather. I can ask almost any of my colleagues at almost anytime in the year what the weather’s going to do and they will know. It’s this way because we are so weather dependent, but it’s also this way because with the advent…

The days have grown very warm and thoughts of thunderstorms are dashing around me. Where once I hoped that the rain would stop, now I’m on the other side of the ledger hoping the rain makes everything better. Needless to say, I suppose it’s time to put it on the past. The rain will come…

  It has dawned hot and dry in southwestern Ontario as very late crops finally get on the road to maturity. Timely rains will surely be needed this summer to get these crops to the finish line. Remnants of the toughest spring on record are all around me, as many fields didn’t get planted. There…

Canada Day dawned hot and dry last Monday. It is one of my favourite holidays and I often spend it near Fort Malden south of Windsor Ontario. For those of you who don’t know, the British built Fort Malden in the late 1700s to defend against the Americans. It was a very important Fort during…

First things first, I got planted this past week. Radical management was at work all across the deep SW of Ontario as farmers scrambled to get crops in the ground before the July 5th deadline. As of today, farmers are still at it, planting into the now dust as Mother Nature has finally put the…