China’s determination to buy soybeans from Brazil earlier this year, even though it paid higher prices for the Brazilian crop, is signaling that the United States should consider refocusing its ef­forts in the world market, according to Sam Funk, sen­ior economist with the Iowa Farm Bureau Fed­­eration (IFBF). 

“I think there is clearly a need to diversify our markets,” Funk said during a recent world market and economics update to the IFBF Summer Policy Conference in Des Moines. “We need a more balanced approach so that we can create enough demand around the world to absorb...