Dairy producers now have more time to enroll for both the dairy margin coverage (DMC) program and its supplemental this year. The application deadline is set for Friday, March 25th. Some changes have been made to the DMC feed cost rule.
“We took a look at the dairy margin coverage to see what kind of support could be offered in that and made some changes to enhance that so that producers that are feeding high quality alfalfa can actually have that built into their margin pricing,” says Zach Ducheneaux, an administrator for the Farm Service Agency.
Supplemental DMC coverage applies to 2021, 2022 and 2023 with participating dairy operations, with supplemental production eligible for retroactive payments for last year.
Making Milk Chocolate Healthier
More people love milk chocolate compared to dark chocolate. But from a nutritionist standpoint, dark chocolate contains antioxidants, which are anti-aging compounds, and they can even help reduce blood pressure.
USDA researchers have found a way to boost the antioxidant levels now of milk chocolate as well by using peanut skins to fortify milk chocolate. They say the skins contain compounds which have been shown to reduce inflammation and act as natural antioxidants. The skins are usually seen as waste.
Scientists combined the skins with corn sugar to create a powder that can be added as an ingredient in the food, such as milk chocolate. Now, further studies show that people who tried the milk chocolate couldn’t tell any difference in taste or texture from the milk chocolate they’d grown to love.
