In a state where most crops drink only what the clouds provide, the recurring specter of drought keeps every grower's eye on the rain gauge — and turns some toward the water of the Missouri.

Prized for its oil and its omega-rich seed, flax has staged a quiet comeback across the plains, its brief blue bloom once again dotting the northern fields.

As a generation of plains farmers reaches its later years, families across the state wrestle with the hardest harvest of all — handing the farm to the next hands, or letting it go.

Beside the rail line in a hundred plains towns, the grain elevator stands as it has for a century — weighing the harvest, holding it, and shipping it to the wider world.

Having watched the topsoil blow in drier decades, many plains growers now leave the stubble standing and drill the next crop straight into the residue, banking moisture and holding the soil in place.

From pinto to black to navy, North Dakota grows more dry edible beans than any other state, and the small, hardy legume has become a fixture of the plains rotation.