30 days until planting 50 days until elections

I have been a bit slow this week.

I have been battling a Brazilian winter cold.
It seems hard to believe one can have a cold when its
85 degrees outside. Low humidity is hard on the lungs.

Dry season is intact yet. It does not look like an early
start to planting which can begin in 30 days.

Lots of talk about how much Brazil will expand for 2015.
In the same sentence they talk about cutting costs.

At the end of the day, I do not think Brazil will expand as
much as they think.

I am watching the Northeast drought. The NE tends to
move in seven year cycles. Seven years above normal
rains with good crops and 7 years below average rains
with less than optimal crops.

We are starting year 3 of the drought.

Brazilians are dealing with the loss of one of the Presidential
candidates this week. It opens up the whole Presidential
political landscape again.

Machinery sales are slow with dealers offering more
and more incentives to keep stuff moving.

With the recent trade deals with Russia. The general public
feels that more and more meat will got there and inflation on
food items will continue higher here.

The average family and lower classes are really starting to feel
this increased cost of living.

Crime is on the increase. Seems like everyday a hold up, car is stolen,
or some sort of bandit story locally.