You are looking at survivorship bias. Look at the number of farms statistics. It's been steadily declining for a very long time. Every year thousands of farms go bankrupt or sell out mostly following the above steps. Because of the large amount of equity in the land value and the relatively small net return or loss it takes a long time for them to go bankrupt. On average around 15-20 years of poor management.

Now the ones that survive follow AG 102 "How to make money growing corn."

1. Own the land outright without any mortgage.

2. Do research plots to evaluate corn varieties and purchase the seed with the highest potential net return. Do not be loyal to any brand/supplier.

3. Invest in irrigation, even in areas that usually get enough rainfall. Running a pivot 1-2 times at the right time can equal 100+ bu higher yield.

4. Purchase and maintain your own equipment. Replace equipment on the good years, repair it on the bad one.

5. Open bid on your inputs. Offer no loyalty to any one supplier, do your own application when possible. Buy generics and cheaper equivalent inputs when possible.

6. Manage your risk when selling. Contract the bulk of your sales early to guarantee a return ad cover your costs.

7. Do not get on the debt cycle of paying for inputs by taking short term loans. Maintain a healthy reserve from good years to cover the bad ones