Enrollment opens for dairy program

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has started accepting applications for the Dairy Margin Coverage program for 2021 enrollment.
“This year has been a market roller coaster for the dairy industry, and the Dairy Margin Coverage program is a valuable tool dairy producers can use to manage risk,” said Bill Northey, USDA’s Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, during a recent roundtable at a dairy in Chippewa Falls, Wisc. “We were excited to roll out this new and improved program… and if you haven’t enrolled in previous years, we highly encourage you to check it out.”
Signup runs through Dec. 11, 2020.
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 payments triggered for seven months in 2019 and three months so far in 2020. More than 23,000 operations enrolled in DMC in 2019, and more than 13,000 in 2020.
In addition to DMC, USDA offers a variety of programs that have helped dairy producers, including insurance, disaster assistance, and conservation programs. Most recently, the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 1 provided $1.75 billion in direct relief to dairy producers who faced price declines and additional marketing costs due to COVID-19 in early 2020.
Registration is underway for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2, which provides another round of assistance for dairy producers and many other eligible producers.
For information, visit farmers.gov DMC webpage, or contact your local USDA Service Center.