Wet, Cold Conditions Cause Delays
Published: Friday, April 20, 2018
The following is from the Indiana Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service for the week ending April 15.
Wet and cold conditions prevailed and continued to delay fieldwork.
Temperatures rose during the latter portion of the week, only to be followed by a weekend with below freezing temps and rain.
The average temperature for the week 49.3 degrees, .4 degrees below normal for the state.
The amounts of rainfall varied from .07 inches to 1.95 inches over the week.
There were 2 days available for fieldwork.
Flood waters receded, but fields are still very wet. Winter wheat continues to green up, but is slow to joint and tiller. There are reports of a very small amount of planting soybeans and corn.
Pasture and hayfields still need improvement. Feedlots have had some improvement from last week but are still sloppy. Livestock are reported to be in good condition.
During the small window of warmer weather, some farmers did tillage, hauled grain to elevators, ditch digging, application of fertilizers and preparation of equipment for tillage and planting.
Topsoil moisture was rated very short, – percent; short, 2 percent; adequate, 59 percent; surplus, 39 percent.
Subsoil moisture was rated very short, – percent; short, 4 percent; adequate, 61 percent; surplus, 35 percent.
The crop progress schedule (last week, previous week, 2017 and 5-year average) showed: corn, planted 0, 0, 3, 1; winter wheat, jointing 20, 12, NA, NA; winter wheat, headed 0, 0, 3, 1.
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