Wichita ? Kansas farmers are expected to harvest 45 percent more wheat this year than during last year’s drought-stricken harvest, the Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday.

The agency’s first official forecast of the 2003 wheat harvest estimates 388 million bushels of winter wheat will be cut this year, based on crop conditions as of May 1.

The predicted average yield for Kansas is 40 bushels per acre, up from 33 bushels last year.

Kansas farmers planted 10.3 million acres of wheat last fall. The statistics service estimates they will actually harvest 9.7 million acres — the largest acreage harvested since 1998 in the state. That compares with the 8.1 million acres of wheat cut a year ago.

The official government estimate — although far higher than earlier predictions from other wheat industry experts — still falls below the 400 million bushels that Kansas farmers usually produce in a state known as the nation’s breadbasket.

During last year’s drought, Kansas harvested 267 million bushels. In 2001, the state harvested 328 million bushels.

The statistics service forecast for Kansas is higher than the estimate from this year’s annual wheat tour of farm industry leaders. Earlier this month, tour participants pegged the 2003 winter wheat crop at 364 million bushels. They also estimated average yields of 38.8 bushels per acre.

Nationally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates wheat production at 1.56 billion bushels, with Kansas again leading the nation. Oklahoma, where the harvest is forecast at 159.8 million bushels, ranked second. Texas was third with an estimated 114.7 million bushels.