Listen to the story here.

Area farmers are surviving, despite struggling crops. That’s the latest from Harvest Public Media, a public media project that focuses on important agriculture issues. It is based at KCUR-FM.

KCUR’s News Director Frank Morris’s story about how the drought has, ironically, positively impacted some local farmers, ran on air, and appeared in a recent issue of The Kansas City Star.

Here’s a portion of the story:

In much of the lower Midwest, water-starved crops have collapsed this year. But as it’s turning out, the farmers have not.

Despite the dismal dry growing season, farmers are surviving — and many are even thriving, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Here in 2012, USDA expects net farm incomes to reach their second-highest level on record,” said Jason Henderson of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Severe drought and near-record farm income?

Believe it.

There are several reasons for these incredible gains after the brutal drought. The biggest: With fewer crops being produced, crop prices have skyrocketed…

Harvest Public Media, based at KCUR, is a collaborative public media project that reports on important agriculture issues in the Midwest. Funded by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Harvest Public Media encompasses six NPR member stations in the region. To learn more, visit www.harvestpublicmedia.org

KCUR 89.3 FM, part of the National Public Radio’s digital network, is licensed by UMKC.