Wichita ? About 75 percent of the Kansas winter wheat suffered some freeze damage, with the early-planted fields where crops were more mature showing the worst effects, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday.

In its weekly crop update, the agency said damage was light in about 24 percent of fields. Damage was reported as moderate for 26 percent and severe for 25 percent of the crop.

Warm growing weather has given farmers a better idea of how bad the damage was in their fields, and this week’s overall crop condition report indicated a bit of improvement from last week’s assessment.

The agency rated about 37 percent of the crop in poor to very poor condition. About 24 percent was in fair condition, with 25 percent in good and 14 percent in excellent shape.

But the tough update on winter wheat was tempered with an improving outlook for spring-planted crops as the state recovers from years of drought. The wet winter and spring have dramatically turned around soil moisture levels.

Topsoil moisture was rated as short in only 3 percent of the state, and even subsoil moisture conditions had improved so much the agency rated subsoil moisture as short in just 8 percent of the state.