There is no crisis in farming. From the the Kansas City Star....

Greg Moe strolled out of the Sprint Center, bought a large beer in a plastic cup and waded through the crowd in the Kansas City Live area. The 57-year-old Iowa farmer still couldn’t believe he was here, in Kansas City, spending his money on the Big 12 basketball tournament.

Yes, these are rare boom times for those Midwesterners who work the land. “Corn and soybean prices are at or near record prices,” he said as he sipped his drink and paused to look around at hundreds of other fans. “There’s a lot of optimism from that. So we thought we’d come down and enjoy the big-city life of Kansas City.”

All last week, that meant doling out dollars Moe wouldn’t have had in years past, when the prices for the soybeans and corn he grows outside Moorland, Iowa, weren’t where they are today — high enough to make you think America’s breadbasket has turned into America’s ATM.

“This is my first Big Eight or Big 12 tournament, and I’ve wanted all my life to come to this,” Moe said. “Times are good on the farm, but they’ve been challenging in the past for farmers. And they will be again. So we’re here now, while we can, enjoying this.”

It’s their presence — and their money — that economists say will help boost profits for events like this tournament and offer places like Missouri a buffer against recession. The tournament was expected to bring 35,000 out-of-town visitors to Kansas City and make a $15 million impact on the local economy.