Deere & Co , the world's largest maker of agricultural machinery, said on Wednesday that quarterly earnings fell 38 percent as lower crop prices and farmers' concerns about the global recession weighed on demand for tractors and harvesters.

The company's results also suffered from the performance of its construction and forestry equipment division, where the continued woes of the housing market dragged sales down 55 percent.

Deere reported a net profit of $472.3 million, or $1.11 a share, for the second quarter ended on April 30, down from $763.5 million, or $1.74 a share, a year earlier.

Sales fell 17 percent to $6.75 billion.

The outlook for market conditions over the remainder of the year remains highly uncertain and the impact on the company's sales and earnings is difficult to assess, Deere said in a statement.

(Reporting by James Kelleher; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

Manufacturing