Philip Shaw

It seems like I’ve been freezing to death all spring. Of course, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, as SW Ontario and Quebec had been suffering from a cold snap as has all of the greater Midwest corn belt. Earlier in May I woke up to what I thought was rain overnight only to view…

Corn planting started and finished for me this week. The soils in SW Ontario are dryer and in better shape than anything I had last year. In fact, in 2019, I hardly planted a “fit acre”. It was so different this week with wide open skies and the dust blowing. The only thing that was…

I started planting corn on April 28th. The day was sunny, and I had a quiet anticipation of dropping my corn planter in the ground and seeing my monitor start blinking. I’m not like a lot of other farmers, who revel in the nuances of social lore on the farm. Farming has always been an…

It has been a miserably cold week in Southwestern Ontario. However, it could be worse, you could have been long in the oil market with a boat load of oil to unload. This past week, we saw something very few of us thought we’d see. The nearby May oil contract went negative, something almost unheard…

It has turned cold this week across SW Ontario and we even had a skiff of snow last earlier. That’s not too unusual for late April in these parts as skiff of snow are so much different than what we can expect in a Canadian winter. Needless to say, at least in these parts its…

These are uneven, unprecedented times. Social distancing for me is pretty easy as I farm alone. However, when people do show up it still seems so strange to make sure I keep 2 metres away. As we move ahead, trying to flatten the curve, our world is reeling from so many things, we never thought…

I like to plant corn. In fact, that’s what I’m getting ready to do. If you’ve read this column over the last 34 years, you’ll know, I always say, I’ll be happy when planting starts, as then I’ll be able to relax. Invariably, every year, there is more anxiety exacted on the process of getting…

You know we are in unusual times when the United States briefly considered moving troops toward the Canadian border. This was confirmed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in response to a report from the Trump administration about putting troops close to the American border. That will be a first, since 1814, when those American troops…

With lineups at grocery stores in Ontario urban areas, a light is being shone a spotlight on our food system. The lack of emphasis in Canadian agricultural policy is showing. Farmers have long thought there will be no real change until consumers see the spectre of empty shelves. Needless to say, nobody wanted to listen….

This country is a very big place. Last week I found myself in an agricultural gem, Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province. I gave a presentation on Eastern Canadian grain markets in Summerside PEI at the PEI Annual Cereal and Oilseed Conference. It was my third time speaking in PEI over the last 10 years…