A local lawmaker is reminding dairy farmers that signup begins Monday for the new Dairy Margin Coverage program.
DMC was authorized in the 2018 Farm Bill and was developed to help dairy producers manage the volatility of milk and feed prices. The program offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed cost falls below a certain dollar amount.
“I encourage all dairy farmers in the Commonwealth to take a strong look at this new program,” U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson said. “We cannot over communicate about the programs available to assist dairy production during challenging times. The Dairy Margin Coverage program is designed to ease the burden and keep family farms solvent.”
The program provides coverage retroactive to January 1, 2019, with applicable payments following soon after enrollment. At the time of signup, dairy producers can choose between the $4.00 to $9.50 coverage levels.
The program is operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency.
The Farm Bill also allows producers who participated in MPP-Dairy from 2014-2017 to receive a repayment or credit for part of the premiums paid into the program. FSA has been providing premium reimbursements to producers since last month and those that elect the 75 percent credit option will now have that credit applied toward 2019 DMC premiums.
All dairy operations in the United States are eligible for the DMC program. An operation can be run either by a single producer or multiple producers who commercially produce and market cows’ milk.
Eligible dairy operations must have a production history determined by FSA. For most operations, production history is based on the highest milk production in 2011, 2012 and 2013. Newer dairy operations have other options for determining production history. Producers may contact their local FSA office to get their verified production history.
Dairy producers also are reminded that 2018 Farm Bill provisions allow for dairy operation to participate in both FSA’s DMC program and the Risk Management Agency’s Livestock Gross Margin (LGM-Dairy) program. There are also no restrictions from participating in DMC in conjunction with any other RMA insurance products.
The USDA has also created an online decision tool, which helps farmers determine coverage levels in advance of signing up for DMC.
