Philip Shaw

Markets remained volatile this week. You think? Let me tell you, it’s been a violent roller coast ride as corn, soybeans and wheat have swung wildly, as the algorithms were almost like getting emotional. I had one Ontario farmer lament to me last week, he couldn’t stand it anymore. I don’t really know what that…

We were limit up today in corn, but limit down last Tuesday. What happens tomorrow? Of course, I like to keep that secret, but if you know, drop me a note. Hot and dry is coming as we’ll greet June next week. We’ve got those speculative limits increased at the CME and as was discussed…

We’ve had a good stretch of planting weather here in SW Ontario. I should be putting the soybean drill away tomorrow. It’s been a while since I’ve done that in May. Of course, in the deep southwest of Ontario, we often say, we got the soybeans planted the first time, as often heavy rains seals…

I finished corn planting the other day, and maybe that’s why there has been a U-turn in December corn. Of course, I’m just kidding, but corn is down approximately 80 cents since last Friday, so remember what I said about volatility. The next 4 weeks of market action are not going to be for the…

As surprises go, it was one of the more unusual ones. A farmer neighbour stopped over and told me there was a beaver dam at the back of a farm adjacent to me and I might have noticed more water in the ditch back there. I didn’t think much about it until he left, then…

I have been literally thrown out of banks before. Now, it was a long time ago and its always a stretch to say such a thing, but perspective sometime can grow more vivid with time. Over a career I have seen quite a change in the agricultural credit landscape. In the 1980s when I started,…

The air was cold today, as whiffs of snow and cold winds whipped across southwestern Ontario farm country. I’m in the midst of getting some of my equipment ready, strategically watching the weather so I can do it in some sort of comfort. It would be nice to have a new shop like a friend…

This past week I was part of the US Farm Report. Some of my American readers would surely know who and what that is. I really didn’t know, but it is one of the most watched American farm shows. Last year the Grain Farmers of Ontario (GFO) had planned to have the show produced and…

The land is getting very dry for this time of year. I know a few guys who are working on planters this year and are hoping to test them out in a few days. At least it will get the neighbours talking. Agronomists always say plant early. My shtick is how early? Why don’t we…

It’s been brutal. A year ago, today, the WHO declared a world-wide pandemic and you know the rest of the story. A year later we have over 530,000 people dead from Covid 19 in the United States and over 22,000 dead in Canada. It was certainly foreboding a year ago, At the time the Canadian…