Philip Shaw's work is published across Canada and the United States. He is an accomplished speaker, journalist, commodity market commentator, agricultural economist and farmer from Dresden, Ontario, Canada.
I recently read about one soybean producer from Missouri who broke the world record for soybean production coming in at 139 bushels per acre. I knew of that last year however reading this recent piece was a confirmation of that never ending technological ladder. When you farm the never ending incentive to get more efficient…
Continue ReadingLast year at this time our Canadian dollar was showing us just how much testosterone it could muster. The dollar topped out at 91.05 cents last June and has been on a downward spiral ever since. Ever since though is long gone. Since reaching lows in the 84-cent level in January our loonie has caught…
Continue ReadingSymbolism is big this week for more reasons than one. It is a week after a bloodbath in the grain markets. Futures plummeted last week after the USDA came out with their prospective plantings report showing the largest corn crop since 1944. Also too, it’s the first anniversary of the day your loyal scribe co-chaired…
Continue ReadingHuman Nature Is a Predictor the West Needn’t Ignore By Philip Shaw M.Sc. Recently what substitutes for a government in Iraq approved the relocation of Arabs from Kirkuk Iraq. The Arab population of Kirkuk is there partly because of a policy enacted by Saddam Hussein in the 1980’s and 1990’s to fill up Kirkuk with…
Continue ReadingI have long been an advocate of saving energy. However living in a small community means I have to travel far and wide to get just about anywhere. So when you measure the kilometers on my vehicles versus my city brethren, I’m sure I’d be guilty of driving more. There is not a whole lot…
Continue ReadingBy the time you read this, we’ll all know what the long awaited March 30th USDA Prospective Planting report will say. There are two reasons for this. One, the report comes out today. Secondly, DTN has decided to edit my column another way, which means even though it is written on Thursday night as usual,…
Continue ReadingHow happy are you? That might seem like an odd question from an economics writer, but to me it’s always been relevant. Assumptions in economics usually side with students wanting more beer than books. With me not drinking alcohol, that assumption always confused me. The point is economists tend to measure things like “economic growth…
Continue ReadingIt is the week before the big event. What you say? Next week at this time we’ll be on the brink of the one of the biggest USDA reports ever. When USDA comes out with its acreage figure for on March 30th, we’ll finally know what’s being going on in the mind of the American…
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