The deadline to enroll for the USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) programs is approaching fast. The last day for producers to sign up is Monday, April 29, 2024.
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) president and CEO, Gregg Doud, urges every dairy farmer to strongly consider signing up for this program.
“DMC itself is improved from the previous farm bill, thanks to the permanent incorporation of updated production histories in the program, and recent low producer margins underscore just how critical DMC is for dairy farms of all sizes,” he says.
Katie Burgess, director of risk management with Ever.Ag, encourages producers to continue to sign up for USDA’s DMC program.
“It has a strong track record of generating producer payouts when margins get squeezed,” she says.
DMC allows producers to select a margin between the milk price and average feed cost to determine at which level they receive assistance.
USDA revised DMC regulations to extend coverage for calendar year 2024, which is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2024, and to provide an adjustment to the production history for dairy operations with less than 5 million pounds of production. In previous years, smaller dairy operations could establish a supplemental production history and receive Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage.
For 2024, dairy producers can establish one adjusted base production history through DMC for each participating dairy operation to better reflect the operation’s current production.
DMC payments are triggered when the difference between the national all-milk price and the national average feed cost (the margin) falls below the producer-selected margin trigger, ranging from Tier 1 from $4.00 to $9.50, and Tier 2 from $4.00 to $8.00, calculated monthly.
Producers are urged to contact their local Farm Service Agency (FSA) office by April 29, 2024, to sign up.
