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The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) wants to remind dairy producers the deadline to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and the new Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) for 2022 is March 25, 2022.
“Over the past two years, American dairy farmers have faced unprecedented uncertainty, from the ongoing pandemic to protracted natural disasters. As producers continue to manage these interconnected challenges, FSA has tools at the ready to provide critical support,” said FSA Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “At 15 cents per hundredweight at the $9.50 level of coverage, DMC is a very cost-effective risk management tool for dairy producers.”
Producers who enrolled in DMC for 2021 received margin payments each month, January through November for a total of $1.2 billion. The average payment was $60,275 per operation.
The DMC program offers reasonably priced protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed cost (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.
Supplemental DMC will provide $580 million to better help small and mid-sized dairy operations that have increased production over the years but were not able to enroll the additional production. Now, they will be able to retroactively receive payments for that supplemental production.
Plus, FSA updated how feed costs?are calculated, which will make the program more reflective of dairy producers’ actual expenses.?
For more information, visit the FSA dairy programs webpage, or contact your local USDA Service Center.