FARGO (AP) - Dry edible bean production in North Dakota is forecast at 10.57 million hundredweight this year, up 38 percent from last year, the Agriculture Department says.

North Dakota typically produces about one-third of the nation's dry edible beans, a category that includes everything from pinto and navy beans to garbanzos.

This year's North Dakota production estimate is just short of a state record. In 2002, farmers in the state produced 10.63 million hundredweight.

The large increase in production from last year is due mostly to improved yields that resulted from better growing conditions, the department said. There also was a small increase in acreage.

Nationwide, dry edible bean production is forecast at 25.2 million hundredweight, up 4 percent from last year.