Philip Shaw

    Sometimes in Ontario we do things right.  Today I attended a “compaction day” near Rutherford Ontario where the St Clair Soil and Crop Improvement Association with various sponsors put on demonstrations regarding how compaction impacts are crop yields.  The day was full of demonstrations regarding how farm machinery can impact compaction on various…

It’s been a bit of an uneven year in Ontario fields. Your loyal scribe had the unfortunate problem of too much rain all spring making it considerably difficult to get soybeans above the ground. However, that was not the case in much of the rest of the province as crops got off to a pretty…

          Last week your loyal scribe finished up his wheat harvest and then for the next few days I got to watch as my neighbors do the same.   Wheat harvest can be the most frustrating because of all the risk associated with it but of course it also can be the most satisfying…

         This week your loyal scribe found himself behind the wheel of a combine going through my soft red winter wheat. It’s that time of year again when Ontario farmers are getting into harvest their wheat fields. Wheat is always a little bit of a pariah with a reputation, sometimes called the cockroach…

       Do we love the “One Big Beautiful Bill” our American friends gave themselves recently.  That kind of rhetoric doesn’t exactly crop up in Canada. In fact, it’s almost unimaginable. But here we are Washington’s just passed a sweeping piece of legislation that adds $68.3 billion over 10 years to the U.S. farm safety…

        The days are long, sunny and hot, somewhat of a departure from what we saw over the last six weeks and we’re hoping for more of it.  It is that time of year when the crop is made or at least the market thinks it is.   This year we have had good…

         In many ways it is the nicest time of the year when we experience some of the longest days imaginable.  Often times this time of year, I am busy spraying my soybeans long into the night as the sun seemingly never sets.  Of course, it’s been a bit different this year because…

         I would like to think that Mother Nature has a bit of a sense of humor. However, I think after a career of farming that really isn’t a thing. This past week after getting a whole bunch of soybeans replanted, Mother Nature slapped me again. Boom! She gave me 2.5 inches of…

         It is a rite of spring, at least in my area. I’m talking about replanting soybeans, something that happens on a regular basis on the heavy clay soils of South Lambton County in southwestern Ontario.  The biggest risk to soybean production in this area is always getting the soybeans out of the…

      It has been a pretty good week here. I got planting again last Thursday after an extended layoff.  I pretty well got everything in. Then splat!  Another 1.3 inches of rain is never welcome on freshly planted soybeans and a delayed planting season gets even more delayed. I realize that this is my…