FARGO (AP) – North Dakota’s dry pea and lentil crops are expected to set records this year. The Agriculture Department is projecting the state’s pea crop at 11.5 million hundredweight, up 46 percent from last year, and the lentil crop at 2.54 million hundredweight, more than triple the size of last year’s crop.

Drought was a problem for the 2008 crop. This year’s state soybean crop is forecast at 116 million bushels, up 10 percent from a year ago, thanks to an increase in harvested acres and yield. The corn crop in North Dakota is pegged at 212 million bushels, down 26 percent from last year’s record high. Officials say harvested acres are down 24 percent.

Fall potato production in the state is estimated at 18.8 million hundredweight, down 17 percent from last year.