Reminds me of this South Park episode

My main exposure to crop farming has been through the series Clarkson’s Farm, so I’m no expert …

… but from what I understand it costs a hell of a lot of money to rent the equipment needed to harvest the crop, and then you still need to store and process it. If there is no guarantee you can sell the end product, sinking loads of money into the harvest is less appealing than just cutting your losses and letting the crop rot.