USDA’s recent revisions to Livestock Gross Margin (LGM) – Dairy will simplify the process producers must go through to purchase the insurance. The changes are effective July 1.
Dairy producers now have the option of either using their own feed prices or using the default feed coefficients added for the LGM for Dairy program, says Alan Zepp, risk management specialist with Pennsylvania’s Center for Dairy Policy. In the past, dairy producers calculated their basis and converted their own soybean and corn purchases into feed coefficients.
The revisions also extended the window of opportunity to purchase a policy from a 12-hour period to a 24-hour period each month. Prices are announced the last business Friday of each month and producers have until 8 p.m. the next evening to purchase a policy based on those prices.
Producers interested in LGM for Dairy plans of insurance should contact their crop insurance agent and complete an application, which will be submitted through an approved insurance provider to the FCIC. A list of agents authorized by their insurance providers to write LGM for Dairy policies is included on the Risk Management Agency’s Web site at www.rma.usda.gov.
