NMPF thanks agency for providing producers more time to consider their coverage needs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has extended the deadline for producers to enroll in Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental Dairy Margin Coverage (SDMC) for program year 2023 to Jan. 31, 2023.
“We recognize this is a busy time of year with many competing priorities, so we’ve extended the DMC enrollment deadline to ensure every producer who wants coverage for 2023 has the opportunity to enroll in the program,” said Farm Service Agency (FSA) Administrator Zach Ducheneaux. “Early projections indicate DMC payments are likely to trigger for the first eight months in 2023. We all know that markets fluctuate, sometimes at a moment’s notice and sometimes with no warning at all, so now’s the time to ensure your operation is covered. Please don’t let this second chance slide.”
National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) President and CEO Jim Mulhern thanked Secretary Vilsack and USDA’s Farm Service Agency for extending the deadline. “With input costs at record highs and early projections showing possible DMC payments for the first eight months of 2023, it’s imperative that producers have time to consider their coverage needs and make choices that best fit their operations and risk-management plans,” he stated.
Nearly 18,000 operations that enrolled in DMC for 2022 have received margin payments for August and September for a total of $76.3 million. At $0.15 per hundredweight for $9.50 coverage, risk coverage through DMC is a relatively inexpensive investment.
Mulhern recommended farmers use the extended period to consider USDA’s full suite of risk-management options, which are all supported by NMPF.
“While DMC is designed to promote stable revenues and protect against financial catastrophe for small and medium-sized producers, other options including the Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) program and the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Producers (LGM-Dairy) program, both of which were revamped in the 2018 Farm Bill at NMPF’s urging, provide important and effective risk management.”
Further, NMPF thanked USDA for giving farmers who did not sign up for supplemental DMC coverage in 2022 based on updated production levels another opportunity to do so this year.
Mulhern added that NMPF is working with USDA as it develops a separate milk loss program that was provided for in legislation enacted last year. The program reimburses dairy producers of all sizes for milk dumped on account of disasters that occurred in 2020 and 2021.
Supplemental DMC
Last year, USDA introduced Supplemental DMC, which provided $42.8 million in payments to better help small- and mid-sized dairy operations that had increased production over the years but were not able to enroll the additional production. Supplemental DMC is also available for 2023, with coverage applicable to calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023. Eligible dairy operations with less than 5 million pounds of established production history may enroll supplemental pounds.
USDA noted that supplemental coverage for producers who enrolled in Supplemental DMC in 2022 will automatically be added to the 2023 DMC contract that previously established a supplemental production history.
Krissa Welshans
Dec 12, 2022
feedstuffs.com
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