Philip Shaw

Have you ever heard the old joke about the price of soybeans and the 1973 all time high (then) of $12.90 cents. The story goes that an old farmer walked into the elevator a few days after soybeans hit their high and beans were down to $11 and change. The farmer said, I’m not selling…

It is a new year, but as hard as I try, it hardly feels like a new day. As 2021 dawns there is faint light at the end of the tunnel which we are all hoping is 2021. Covid 19 dominated 2020 like we could have never imagined. I started the year off in Bangladesh…

It is that time of year again, and of course this Christmas is so different than ever before. It’s usually a time when families get together, a religious celebration for some, a cultural celebration for others. However, this year with Covid 19 continuing to stalk our land, governments are encouraging us to stay home. The…

I heard from Manitoba this past week over last’s week’s column on “Orderly Marketing”. It came from a DTN reader who has read this column for many years and actually showed up on my door once near Dresden Ontario and asked, are you Phil Shaw? We had a brief discussion on wheat marketing but ended…

First the good news. Earlier this month Health Canada approved the first vaccine for Covid19. In Ottawa and Toronto health care workers were the first Canadians to receive the Covid 19 vaccine. It signals a light at the end of the tunnel. For Canadians all across this vast land it can’t come soon enough. Covid…

Throughout my life I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many far-off lands. Some of it was easy flying to English speaking countries in my youth, where I could communicate very easily and exchange money almost everywhere. What was more difficult was going to so called third world countries, which were poor, didn’t speak the…

I’m wishing all of my American friends and colleagues at DTN a Happy Thanksgiving. I have a connection with American Thanksgiving as my grandmother was American and my sister-in-law is American. So, at this time of year, I usually celebrate with everybody else south of the border. However, this year, like so many places to…

I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of farmers from all over the world. I’ve also been fortunate to meet farmers from all over Canada and the United States. It’s interesting, we have many of the same problems, as agricultural economics keeps us on that vicious efficiency treadmill. Keep doing things cheaper and better, then…

It’s over now, or at least it seems like it is. Maybe now, after several weeks of mentioning the elephant in the room, we can talk about it. The next President of the United States will be former Vice President Joe Biden with Senator Kamala Harris the Vice President. Of course, our American friends are…

Corn and soybean futures surged today to their contract highs and of course I’m still dreaming of $20 soybeans. I’m just kidding. If you have read this column over the last 34 years, you’ll know, that’s been a recurring theme of mine. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but keep in mind nobody…