Sept 17th blog update China visits

Hot and dry at the moment.

Forecast is for rains to start end of Sept. The 30 day forecast
is for irregular rains. We will need to watch this as per if this
affects planting. At this time, not a big deal.

I am working on Oct newsletter. I have some new corn production
graphics to include. As I stated earlier, the headline for the season
will be the amount of 1st crop corn that gets planted and the lack of soybeans.
Soybean area will look very much like last year.

The impeachment process went smoothly and now it looks like they will nab
former President Lula also. Compared to USA politics at the moment, Brazil
looks rational at the present time.

Brazil sure seems to want to open itself up for investment again.
Foreign ownership of land and many infrastructure projects are all on deck
to be bid on by private sector.

President Temer and Sec of AG, Blario Maggi, have spent time in China the
past two weeks. Blario continued onto Vietnam also.

We have had Chinese delegations in Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Goias recently.

One must wonder why?

It seems like Brazil is serious this time about letting foreigners participate
in infrastructure ptojects. They are printing the consessions to be bid on both in
English and Portuguese. In the past, so many things i.e. details, got lost in translation.
It does no good to bid on a railroad if the environmental impact study has not been
completed.

President Temer and Blario Maggi remind me of the Smokey and the Bandit theme song,
"we have a long way to go and a short time to get there."

They have two years, maybe less, when one considers the election politics of Brazil
for 2018. They need to make hay in 2017 or we will look back in 2.5 years and say they
were nothing but place holders or bench warmers for the new team to come in early 2019.

This new team will be a wild card. We could swing hard left or hard right again depending
on the economic temperment of the populous at that time. At the moment, most everyone
is hurting. Sales, production, and services are much lower than three years ago and at the
same time everything costs more. My electricty bill made a new record high for Sept.
10 years ago the bill was 150 and now it is 800. I am not sure how the average joe
can keep up with that.

There are reasons to be optimistic. But so much of this optimism depends on China, FX,
and cheaper credit in the future. If there is a hiccup in any of these factors mentioned,
it ripples through the whole economy and another year goes by without much change.

Kory