Southern Brazil saw some moisture over the Christmas weekend, but drier weather is returning to the region as 2020 winds down. An Agriculture Dot Com article says the drier-than-normal conditions will stretch into Uruguay and eastern Argentina through January 3. Expected weather concerns will likely continue to put upward pressure on corn and soybean prices. A strong La Nina will remain in place and will continue in the Southern Hemisphere through next summer. During those La Nina events, the Brazilian monsoon season tends to be delayed, which can lead to suboptimal soil moisture for the country’s more important crop-growing regions. The wetter weather appears to be delayed so far. However, the influence of La Nina often decreases during the month of January as smaller-scale atmospheric processes increase their influence over the precipitation patterns in Brazil. That could lead to an increase in moisture heading into the late stages of January.