Argentina received enough rains to stabilize crops – for now – though drought concerns persist. Brazil’s weather remained mostly favorable despite too-wet conditions in some central areas and dryness in far southern locations. On the macroeconomic front, food prices surged in 2022 and are expected to continue higher this year. But there are increased signs the Fed’s aggressive monetary policy tightening is taking hold, including the first ever drop in M2 money supply. Economists expect the Fed to reduce its rate of interest rate increases to 25 basis points following the Feb. 1 policy meeting. With the winter seminar season in full swing, we answer the major questions farmers have asked us in our News page 4 feature. We cover all of these items and much more in this week’s newsletter, which you can download here.