CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa State University expert says long-term trends and recent weather patterns have put Brazil in a position to overtake the United States as the world's leading producer of soybeans.

Chad Hart is a grain markets specialist at Iowa State, and he says the market change "has been building over a long period of time, but this year will be a milestone."

Hart told The Gazette of Cedar Rapids (http://bit.ly/WGpguN ) that U.S. farmers can't match the rate at which Brazil is increasing the acres for soybean crops.

Hart says that although Brazil may replace the United States as the world's largest producer of soybeans, soybeans will continue to be profitable for U.S. growers. And, he says, U.S. dominance for corn production will continue.

___

Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/