Philip Shaw

Ok guys, its time to get those last minute Christmas presents.  Yes, I know.  It’s been an extremely drawn out fall with ruts and mud to show for it.  Winter is finally here.  It’s almost time to turn the page. So how about those acres for next year?  I’ve been telling you for months now…

I talked with one of my favourite grain traders the other day.  He said, “we’re bullish when the market is at its top and we’re bearish when the market is at the bottom.”  We were both lamenting that no one predicted the run up in commodity prices started last September. Of course I was at…

Markets rumbled this past week as corn, wheat and soybeans went through some terrific volatility.  At one point farmers were checking to see if we were going back to the bad old days like the early fall 2006.  By Thursday markets had decided that maybe they were a bit over sold.  Deciding how the ethanol…

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…