BILLINGS, Mont. - Crop loss payments are among the lowest in recent years for North Dakota and other states in the region, a federal agriculture official says.

Dave Nickless, deputy director for the regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency, said an easing of drought conditions in the state contributed to what is so far the lowest level of payouts for insured crop losses since 1997. Nickless' agency administers federal crop insurance programs.

With most claims for the 2005 crop year in, $24 million has been paid out to Montana farmers for insured losses, Nickless said. That compares to $86 million in 2004 and is the lowest since 1997, a wetter year for which just $14 million was paid, he said.

"Hopefully, that's kind of an indication that the moisture coming into the state has been better and producing better yields for crops and fewer crop insurance claims," he said. "I think it's better for everybody."

Carl Mattson, of the Montana Grain Growers Association, said that while 2005 didn't yield the kind of crop failures that Montana farmers had experienced in past years, when drought was a major concern, summer heat still took a toll on some producers' spring wheat.

Crop loss payments in North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, the other states Nickless' region covers, are also down from the 2004 crop year, in some cases, drastically. Strictly from an insurance standpoint, the region saw one of its best years in at least the last five, Nickless said.

In North Dakota, for example, $217 million in crop losses has been paid, he said. Payments for 2004 were more than double that - $462 million, he said. Payments in 2003 hit $212 million.

"They also had a good year, not quite as sparkling as what Montana had, but not a bad year," Nickless said. Wet weather in eastern North Dakota helped drive some of the losses in that state, he said.

Payments to South Dakota farmers have reached $113 million, and Nickless said that's the lowest since 2000, when $79 million was paid. Unlike Montana and North Dakota, where wheat losses have accounted for the biggest portion of payments so far, South Dakota has seen the most from corn, he said.

In Wyoming, crop losses payments are at $6 million, down sharply from 2004, for which $15 million in losses were paid, he said. Water shortages were a key problem in parts of Wyoming, where growers rely on irrigation for sugar beets, he said.