COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's soybean harvest is predicted to fall significantly below last year's, but its corn crop is coming in a little better, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Friday.

Soybean production is forecast at 139 million bushels based on Oct. 1 conditions, down 18 percent from the 2002 production of 170 million bushels, said the Agriculture Department's state statistical services based in Columbia.

The expected state yield of 28 bushels of soybeans per acre is 6 bushels below last year, and yields in many areas of the state are expected to be similar to the poor crop of 1999, the agency said.

The projected corn yields of 109 bushels an acre is up 4 bushels from 2002, which is still below average but a little better than previously expected, said Gene Danekas, the Agriculture Department's state statistician.

Corn production in Missouri is forecast at 305 million bushels, 8 percent above last year's low production.

Missouri production of grain sorghum, cotton and rice all are forecast to fall slightly below last year's harvest, the Agriculture Department said. But the production of hay is expected to rise 14 percent from last year to 8.9 million tons.

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Agriculture statistics: http://agebb.missouri.edu/mass