Enrollment opens this week for the Dairy Margin Coverage program and the American Farm Bureau Federation is encouraging dairy producers to enroll in the risk management program.
The Department of Agriculture has opened the Dairy Margin Coverage Program enrollment period for 2024. American Farm Bureau Federation Economist Danny Munch says the program helps dairy producers manage risks.
“Dairy Margin Coverage, often called DMC, provides a level of risk management protection to dairy farmers under low margin conditions, so that can be caused by low milk prices, high feed costs, or a combination of both. To participate in Dairy Margin Coverage, dairy producers select a coverage level ranging from $4 to $9.50 per hundredweight on 50 cent increments, and then they select the coverage level for their production history ranging from five percent to 95 percent of their coverage history.”
The enrollment period started on Wednesday.
“Enrollment for the year, which traditionally opens in October, has been delayed up until this point. FSA originally reported delays for software updates as well as the need to publish a new rule related to production history as the reason why there were delays. AFBF sent a letter urging FSA to open enrollment back on February 6. Signup for Dairy Margin Coverage will end April 29. And the good news is there will be retroactive coverage and payment for those who sign up quickly.”
Munch says that while opening DMC enrollment helps, AFBF is still seeking larger changes to how dairy farmers are paid.
“National Farmers Union joined AFBF last week to request emergency implementation of the higher-of Class I mover. We calculated that that pool losses for the month of January because of that formula switch back in the 2018 farm bill were over $55 million, and that negatively impacts our producers’ checks. So, we’re glad to be joining with the National Farmers Union to request that emergency implementation from the Secretary.”
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