The following is from the Indiana Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service for the week ending Nov. 22.
Wintry conditions limited fieldwork and brought harvest to a close.
A winter storm toward the end of the week moved across the state, bringing moderate snowfall and rain, with reports of up to 6 inches of snow accumulation and localized flooding in areas that received the rain.
There were 4.1 days suitable for fieldwork, down 1.3 days from last week.
Much of the winter wheat has been covered with a fresh blanket of insulating snow cover. Conditions of the wheat crop remain favorable at 69 percent in good to excellent condition, up from last week.
Farmers continued to wrap up fall tillage on coarse soils before the ground freezes.
With the arrival of winter, most of the livestock are being supplemented with hay or other feedstuffs. The wet weather kept farmers out of the fields and working on equipment and hauling corn to elevators.
Other activities keeping farmers busy included laying tile, spreading lime and fertilizer, taking soil samples, preparing financial information, and preparing equipment and facilities for winter.
By region, winter wheat emerged was 99 percent in the north, 96 percent in central, and 97 percent in the south.
Topsoil moisture was rated very short, 3 percent; short, 21 percent; adequate, 67 percent; surplus, 9 percent.
Subsoil moisture was rated very short, 5 percent; short, 26 percent; adequate, 63 percent; surplus, 6 percent.
The crop progress schedule (last week, previous week, 2014 and 5-year average) showed: winter wheat planted, 100, 99, 98, 100; winter wheat emerged, 97, 94, 87, 93; alfalfa hay, fourth cutting, 89, 87, NA, NA.