The total dollar-value of crop insurance claims are up significantly for the Weyburn area from last year, but they are made up of a larger number of smaller claims rather than total crop write-offs as happened in last year's drought, said a spokesperson for the Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corporation.

A total of $16.6 million in claims has been paid out in the Weyburn area as of mid-December, compared to $9.2 million a year ago. A total of 2,800 inspections have been carried out in the Weyburn area in 2003, said Karen Hill, communications officer for the crop insurance company.

She noted while the deadline for claims was Nov. 15, farmers can still make claims until Dec. 31, although any payouts will be reduced by 25 per cent for filing late. She estimates that province-wide there are about 400 claims left to process for this year.

A total of 53,000 inspections were carried out across the province, which is a little above the average level of around 40,000 inspections a year. The majority of crop insurance claims this year came from the province's northwest region.

The increase in claims from the Weyburn area was mostly due to heat stress, drought and grasshopper damage.

"Pretty much everything planted past May was in a claim position of some sort," added Hill.

A total of around $300 million has been paid out in claims province-wide, she said, and the company estimates the year-end total will be somewhere around $325 million, which is slightly above an average year.

"As far as how it affects premiums, we take a long-term view," she said, saying the agriculture department will be doing a lot of calculations, including monies from the federal APF program, before coming out with the premium levels for 2004. She noted that the deficit created from 2002 will have an impact on 2004; premiums went up by a hefty 52 per cent in 2003, mostly due to the huge payout from the drought in 2002.

Hill said Agriculture minister Clay Serby will likely announce the new rates by early March, to enable producers to have time to make decisions on crop insurance coverage for the year.