The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) wants to remind dairy producers the extended deadline to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) for program year 2023 is Tuesday, January 31st.
DMC is a voluntary risk management program that offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed price (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer.??
DMC offers different levels of coverage, even an option that is free to producers, aside from a $100 administrative fee. Limited resource, beginning, socially disadvantaged, and military veteran farmers and ranchers are exempt from paying the administrative fee, if requested.
Last year, USDA introduced Supplemental DMC, which provided $42.8 million in payments to better help small- and mid-sized dairy operations that had increased production over the years but were not able to enroll the additional production. Supplemental DMC coverage is applicable to calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023.? Eligible dairy operations with less than 5 million pounds of established production history may enroll supplemental pounds.??
For producers who enrolled in Supplemental DMC in 2022, the supplemental coverage will automatically be added to the 2023 DMC contract that previously established a supplemental production history.?
Producers who did not enroll in Supplemental DMC in 2022 can do so now.
For more information, contact your local USDA Service Center.