Quad Cities-based John Deere reports a big drop in its third quarter income today. Deere is reporting worldwide net income for the quarter of $420-million, which is down from 575-million in the same quarter last year.

For the quarter, global net sales and revenues fell 24%. The company says its the largest expected single-year sales decline in at least 50 years. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, Deere had net income just over a billion dollars, a drop of more than 600-million compared to a year ago.

Deere says its farm machinery sales in the U.S. and Canada are expected to be down slightly for the year, with declines up to 15% forecast for western Europe.