Claims under the Saskatchewan’s Provincial Disaster Assistance Program are contributing to higher-than budgeted overall government spending this year, while lower-than-budged crop insurance claims are the main reason agriculture spending will be $44 million lower than expected in 2014-15, the provincial government announced Wednesday. Meanwhile, the 2015-16 budget, tabled Wednesday by Finance Minister Ken Krawetz, includes $240 million to fund business risk management programs - including crop insurance - for farmers. "The 2015-16 Agriculture Budget also contains $240 million to fully fund business risk management programs such as Crop Insurance, AgriStability and AgriInvest to support farming operations as they look to grow and expand," the provincial government said in a backgrounder. "The 2015 Crop Insurance Program includes ongoing enhancements giving producers more choice and flexibility. As well, Crop Insurance premiums are decreasing for producers while coverage levels, on average, are increasing to $183 per acre, up from $162 per acre in 2014." AgriStability is "a margin-based program that provides income support when a producer experiences larger income losses," Saskatchewan Crop Insurance Corp. says on its website. Under the Growing Forward 2 agreement between Ottawa and the provinces, which covers 2013 through 2018, costs are shared by the federal and provincial governments. AgriInvest is a federal program that lets producers "set money aside which can be used to recover from small income shortfalls, or to make investments to reduce on-farm risks." Source - http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/