(AP) — The Agriculture Department says the nation’s winter wheat crop will be 2 percent larger than they had anticipated a month ago.

The National Agricultural Statistic Service’s July crop production report pegged the anticipated U.S. winter wheat crop at 1.52 billion bushels.

Even with the more generous outlook, the wheat harvest is expected to be down 18 percent from last year.

The agency’s latest report comes as harvest winds down in Kansas and picks up in Nebraska.

Yields were better than expected just a month ago in Kansas.

The government latest forecast estimates the Kansas wheat crop at 360.8 million bushels.

That compares with 356 million bushels cut last year in Kansas.