Are farmers repeating the mistakes of the 1970s, when rapidly rising investment in capital goods led to an overleveraged industry?

This is the question being examined by Jason Henderson, vice president and Omaha branch executive, and Nathan Kauffman, economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, as they delve into the boom-bust cycles of U.S. agriculture.

According to the authors of “The Wealth Effect of U.S. Agriculture,” which appeared in a recent issue of…