As of the end of September, the ministry had a debt-to-asset ratio of 61.81%, up from 60.63% at the end of 2011.

WSJ: China's Railway Ministry Gets Approval for Bonds

Fortunately, farmers are in better financial shape these days: the debt-to-asset ratio, over 25% in the crisis years of the 1980s, is now closer to 15%, notes Bob Stutzman, of Prudential Agricultural Investments.

ECONOMIST: Farm prices