Iowa farmers are currently undergoing a change of markets in the soybean trade, going away from the traditional buyers due to trade policies.

Warren County farmer Randy Miller tells KNIA News that after the tariffs and ongoing trade war with China, Argentina and Brazil have stepped in to take the United States market there, and US farmers are replacing the traditional Argentina and Brazil markets.

“Price still talks. The cheapest freight from point A to point B makes the most sense. To ship beans to China that’s out of the pacific northwest, that’s the shortest path to China. Brazil or Argentina having to go through the Panama Canal up and around and over, it just makes sense to send our beans fto the pacific northwest. Well when China stopped buying from us they went to other places, and that made the bean flow look different for US farmers.”

Miller also said that the cattle market is a bright spot for the farming industry right now, due to low feed prices and a high demand for beef.