It is a threat activated and deactivated by weather here and abroad. The farm income problem is as sure to return as weather is to remain unpredictable. Inventory of grains is too high. But inventories get out of balance periodically in all sorts of industries. When inventories are bulging and prices decline, producers produce less and consumers buy more.
Inventories return to normal and prices bounce back.
But this is not the case in agriculture. We can make believe it works, we can wish it would work but to do either is to deny reality. Limited ability to adjust agricultural production in the short run When inventories are high and prices are low, the first response in most sectors of the economy is to reduce production. A plant manager in a nonag sector can adjust output weekly or daily. Farmers make the output decision only once a year at planting time.