Deere & Co., continuing to reflect the...

Deere & Co., continuing to reflect the struggling farm economy, said its third-quarter earnings fell to $4.5 million, less than one-fourth of its income in the 1984 period. The company noted, however, that results in both periods included unusual, non-recurring items. The company posted income of $22.9 million from accounting procedures used in reducing inventories, while last year the benefit was $5.7 million. The company also included income of $28.5 million in the third quarter of 1984 because of tax law changes. Excluding those items and others like them, Deere lost $10.1 million in the third quarter of this year and $4.8 million in the year-earlier period.