Philip Shaw

March 2007 corn futures closed today at $3.90/bushel. March 2007 soybean futures closed over $7.00/bushel. Believe me my friends; there is some rare air wafting around. Markets continue to boil. As many of you know I take a stab at the market from time to time. Since the summer I’ve been doing the “Market Trends”…

Well, how did we arrive here?  What you say?  Let me tell you.  20 years ago this week, your loyal scribe first “penned”, yes “penned” the Agridome.  Now 20 year later, the pen is gone, replaced by a computer, which not only processes words, but acts as a conduit for a multimedia agricultural experience.  Giving…

Its been a long seven months since I co-chaired the 10,000 farmer rally on the steps of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.  Thankfully farm prices have improved.  Or maybe I should say, luckily they have improved.  Seven months out since that heady day, our agricultural policy world is not only stuck, it seems stuck in…

Editor’s Note: Thanks to all who responded last week to my call for opinion about the Canadian Wheat Board.  I had both supporters of the CWB and non-supporters contact me.  I’ll be re-visiting the Canadian Wheat Board in future columns, so keep those opinions coming.  An American opinion would surely be valuable too! Are the…

So what do you think of CWB II?  What you say?  For those of you east of the Manitoba/Ontario border that stands for Canadian Wheat Board Two.  Still confused?  Ok, believe me if you are a DTN reader in Western Canada you know what I’m talking about.  The fabled Canadian Wheat Board so vilified by…

Volatility.  It’s a word I’ve used rather loosely over the last 20 years of writing this column.  If you are in the agricultural business it is something you get very used to. A few years ago, there was a teachers strike taking place over a period of extended weeks.  I didn’t pay much attention to…

I have often said if I could charter a plane, load up it up with my readers and listeners, I’d take them to some far lands, mostly likely in Asia.  Having seen that part of the world close up many times, I’d just want to show my farmer colleagues the world of agriculture beyond the…

Wheat prices are down right freaky.  Corn prices are behind but not by much.  Soybean prices are like the ugly duckling.  Nobody likes them but they are tagging along for the scraps.  This morning’s USDA world agricultural supply and demand estimates have thrown the bulls some more hay.  Finding our way in this market will…

This past week saw our commodity markets continue to boil.  It would seem the ethanol gold rush mused about in these pages so much may actually be happening.  Wheat futures in fact reached a ten year high. Informa also released their latest crop production estimates last week.  They are pegging corn to come in at…

In my part of Canada soybeans are just about ready to take off.  In fact some early fields have seen combines rolling.  Yields look quite healthy.  Soybeans, the poor boy of our commodity world didn’t have many challenges this past year. No aphids, plus no rust and ample rainfall added up to a good soybean…