Brazil’s farmers are ad­­opting a high rate of technology in crop and livestock production, but corruption and subpar transportation infrastructure are limiting the potential of the country’s agriculture sector.

Those are some of the findings by a 22-person Iowa Farm Bureau market study tour of livestock production and agriculture in the central Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo.

"Their biggest challenges are logistics, corruption and quality," said Allen Burt, a Marshall County crop and hog farmer. "Those three things will keep them from being more competitive in the global market."

Infrastructure is one of the United States’ key advantages over Brazil, which has much lower land and labor costs than the U.S.

Brazil’s soybeans, beef and corn are moved primarily by truck along many two-lane highways that are highly variable in terms of quality.

For example, cattle coming to a feedlot owned by meat packer JBS ...