Philip Shaw

         I guess you do take the escalator up and the elevator down.  In a piece about corn prices last week, it seemed rather silly now after the USDA report wondering where we are on that escalator up in prices. On June the 12th the USDA came out with some totally off the…

It has been a dreary few days here in southwestern Ontario as milder weather has overtaken much of the province. I am sure that that is causing a little bit of angst for those of us who still have crop out. We were surely preferring colder crisper weather for that. Needless to say, January represents…

          It is a long and winding road, but we are getting there.  2025 is quickly growing old and we will welcome in a new year before you know it. In Ontario we wish for a lot of things but certainly in 2026 many of us will be looking for consistent rainfall throughout…

         It is that time of year again. Christmas is next week and as always at Christmas time many of us are hoping for that idyllic picture of family and friends gathering around to celebrate the season.  Of course, it is not always that way as Christmas means different things to different people…

          The corn harvest continues in Ontario, and it is a snowy one at that. We have about 25% of Ontario corn acres still in the field and with cold temperatures and snow inundating many areas, it’s just making it difficult.  Winter came a bit early to southern Ontario. Often times we have…

      It is not the stuff of the classic polar vortex we can get in January, but early December feels pretty cold.  What is unfortunate is about 30% of the Ontario corn crop is still in the field and as we all know snow and cold weather doesn’t necessarily mix well with combining corn. …

         Let me just say that the road has been long. This past week your loyal scribe marked his 39th year of writing this column. It is 2025 now and I can remember very clearly 25 years ago when the new century changed how many of us thought that was like science fiction….

            It always seems like it is a long way to payday for those of us who grow corn in Ontario. Often times, the snow has only been melted for a couple of weeks and we are into the fields in late April trying to get something to grow.  There is always…

          This past week we had the first federal budget in quite some time.  Prime Minister Mark Carney has gotten by with a reputation is being a very smart central banker and I think a lot of people were hoping that that would translate into a good federal budget.  The biggest number starts…

          This afternoon I was dealing with a repair on the combine.  Last week I got started at corn harvest and I’m finding it pretty good. In fact, I think it will be at record levels which puts me significantly different to the rest of Ontario where corn yields are down. In any…