A pair of recently released re­­ports vividly showcase the economic difficulties staring at farmers in Iowa and around the country as they gear up for the 2016 planting season.

The reports from the Kansas City Federal Reserve and Creighton University in Omaha show that three years of big crops after the drought of 2012 have created price-depressing surpluses of corn, soybeans and other crops. The surpluses aren’t confined to the United States. Several key competitors, including ...