WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Indiana farmers are scurrying to get all of their corn and soybeans out of the fields during what’s been one of the slowest harvest seasons in the past 25 years.

According to the USDA, just 58 percent of the corn statewide was harvested as of Nov. 2 while 73 percent of the soybeans were in. These figures are far below the five-year average, which is 70 percent for corn and 84 percent for soybeans. "This certainly is a late harvest," said Chris Hurt, professor of ag economics for Purdue University at the West Lafayette campus.

Only in three years since 1990 has the percentage of corn brought in at this point in the season in Indiana been lower, with the lowest in 2009 at just 28 percent of corn, according to USDA statistics. Forty-two percent was harvested by Nov. 2 in 1992, and 47 percent, in 1996.

Farmers have really stepped up the pace of the harvest in areas where the weather allowed, especially with soybeans which are more susceptible to damage if they remain in the fields during the winter. Fifty percent of Hoosier soybeans were still out in late October. A cool, wet spring caused delays in planting, but farmers in May made substantial progress in getting back on track, only to fall behind again with the harvest because of a wet October, he said. With record yields still forecast and farmers working fast the past two weeks trying to catch up, harvest problems have emerged with bottlenecks at some of the grain elevators.

Hurt said some elevators are shutting down for a few hours or even a whole day occasionally to stop more corn from coming in until what’s already there has dried down and been put on freight cars for shipment. According to the USDA, the average moisture of corn statewide is 17 percent, which means record volumes that must be dried at elevators to the USDA standard of 15 percent moisture before storage. "It just slows down that harvest activity. You just don’t have sufficient dryer capacity for all of that corn," said Hurt.

Soybeans, on the other hand, have an average 13 percent moisture in the state, slightly above the USDA standard of 12 percent. The goal is to get the remainder of the corn and soybeans out of the fields in the next two weeks, but depending on the weather, harvest statewide could last until Thanksgiving. Hurt said farmers with crops still out in December face having to wait for the fields to freeze before harvesting the balance, meaning potential for loss in quality and volume especially in soybeans, which cannot withstand harsh elements as well as corn.

"That’s not a pleasant thought when there is so much invested in that crop," he said. Record volumes of corn in Indiana and throughout the nation, although a blessing, have dropped prices by about 10-15 cents per bushel, he said.