The US Department of Agriculture raised its already record-large outlook for this year’s corn harvest, projecting yields at 188.8 bushels an acre. The upgrade, published in the August World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, implies one of the biggest US crops on record and extends a two-decade trend that has lifted average yields by roughly 45% since 2000. The larger-than-expected supply outlook sent Chicago Board of Trade corn futures tumbling 2.4% to $3.98 a bushel, their lowest level in almost 12 months. Market-data provider Barchart described the sell-off as the third-worst single-day drop in the past decade, while the CORN exchange-traded fund fell about 2.3%. Lower prices also weighed on shares of agricultural machinery maker Deere & Co., which traders linked to the USDA report. Persistent weakness in crop prices is feeding through to agribusiness balance sheets. Cargill, the largest privately held company in the United States, reported fiscal-2025 revenue of $154 billion, down from $160 billion a year earlier and the lowest in four years. The Minneapolis-based group, which is restructuring and contending with the smallest US cattle herd since the 1950s, cited declining grain values among the factors pressuring its results.