With five months remaining in 2023, total DMC payments have nearly equaled the previous annual high distributed in 2021.
With an extremely low milk-feed income margin in July, Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) insurance program indemnity payments distributed through the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) continue to mount. Through Sept. 5, DMC indemnity payments for milk marketings in the first seven months of 2023 had reached nearly $1.13 billion.
The July DMC milk income over feed cost margin was just $3.52 per hundredweight (cwt), triggering indemnity payments at all Tier I and Tier II insured levels. (Read: July 2023 DMC margin falls to $3.52 per cwt)
Based on latest enrollment data as of Sept. 5, 17,002 dairy operations are enrolled in the 2023 DMC program, representing about 73.6% of operations with established production history. January-July DMC payments averaged $66,355 per dairy operation enrolled.
Dave Natzke
September 14, 2023
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