Crop insurance premiums, coverage going up

Crop insurance premiums and coverage levels are going up in Saskatchewan.

Agriculture Minister Lyle Stewart says premiums will average $8.51 an acre up 67 cents an acre from last year's average because of the need to insure higher value crops such as lentils and canola.

Stewart says coverage levels will increase by $1 to $217 an acre.

• 2016 harvest carries over into January for Saskatchewan farmer
• December harvest of canola a first for Meadow Lake, Sask.-area farm

The province will also pay out an estimated $650 million in crop insurance claims from 2016 because storms and excess moisture delayed harvest.

About 1.3 million acres of crop is still on the fields.

Stewart says the challenge will be getting that harvested before seeding this year.

The $650 million is not a record loss. In 2002,crop insurance paid out just over $1.2 billion because of a drought.