MANHATTAN, Kan. undefined

Kansas farmers are forecast to harvest a smaller winter wheat crop this year, a government report released Thursday shows.

The latest forecast, based on crop conditions on June 1, estimates the size of crop at 319 million bushels, according to the Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service. That is down 6% from last year's harvest.

Its revised estimate is a bit more optimistic than both the 306 million bushels the agency had forecast last month and the 284.4 million bushels industry observers had predicted after a wheat tour in May.

The new gove...