WASHINGTON - The nation is on track for bountiful harvests, including a record corn crop, the Agriculture Department said Thursday.

The department estimated the corn harvest at 10.9 billion bushels, up 288 million bushels from last month's record projection and 8 percent from last year. The previous record, in 2003, was 10.1 billion bushels.

Corn yield would hit a record of 148.9 bushels per acre, up 6.7 bushels per acre from last year's peak. The expected increase in supply caused the projected season-average price to decline from the July estimate by 25 cents a bushel, ranging from $2.05 to $2.45, USDA said.

Frequent rains in the Corn Belt and Great Plains have been good for the crops, keeping the soil moist. In the Midwest, the plants have been developing ahead of schedule, although this was due largely to a rapid pace of planting in May, the department said.

The crop report forecast soybean production at 2.88 billion bushels, up 19 percent from 2003 and the second-largest soybean crop on record. In 2001, the nation harvested 2.89 billion bushels. Yields are expected to be 39.1 bushels per acre, up 5.7 bushels per acre from 2003. The projected price was cut by 30 cents a bushel, to a range per bushel of $5.40 to $6.40.

Total wheat production was forecast at 2.1 billion bushels, up 3 percent from July but down 214 million bushels from last year. The department also said projected global wheat production and stocks were up. The department lowered its projected price range for the U.S. crop by 25 cents a bushel, now $2.95 to $3.55.

The department said the U.S. rice harvest would be 221.6 million hundredweight, down less than 1 percent from last month's projection but up 11 percent from the last harvest. The average yield is expected to be 6,680 pounds per acre, down 41 pounds per acre from last month's projection, but still 35 pounds per acre above the previous harvest. The projected price was raised by 50 cents per 100 pounds from the previous estimate, to a range per hundredweight of $6.75 to $7.25.