Corn prices are falling at a rapid rate, dropping 40 percent since last year

"The boom in corn prices that helped propel the U.S. farm economy is fading amid expectations for a record-high harvest," Mark Peters and Jesse Newman report for The Wall Street Journal. And "the slide is bad news for farmers who saw their incomes surge to the highest levels since the early 1970s, adjusted for inflation, while farmland values ballooned so much that some analysts worried about a bubble. Lower corn prices will squeeze profit margins, farmers who rent land for their crops might struggle to make money, and sales of tractors and other farm supplies likely will suffer."

Corn, the largest U.S. crop, saw its prices reach an all-time high last year, but are down 40 percent to their lowest point in three years, the Journal reports. Prices dropped from $8.31 a bushel last August to $4.65 as bushel last week, and analysts predict it will continue to decline. The "slide is bad news for farmers who saw their incomes surge to the highest levels since the early 1970s, adjusted for inflation, while farmland values ballooned so much that some analysts worried about a bubble. Lower corn prices will squeeze profit margins, farmers who rent land for their crops might struggle to make money, and sales of tractors and other farm supplies likely will suffer."

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