An update this week at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Blog noted that, “Dairy producers have until June 1, 2018, to register for the new and improved Margin Protection Program for Dairy (MPP-Dairy), which provides protection to dairy producers from shifting milk and feed prices.
“To help raise awareness of recent changes to the program, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) is holding informational meetings all across dairy country, explaining changes to the program (PDF, 366 KB), coverage levels, premiums and the availability of the Margin Protection Program-Dairy Decision Tool.”
The USDA update explained that, “In February, Congress made several changes based on feedback from dairy producers to the MPP-Dairy program, including:
- Calculation of the margin period now is monthly rather than bi-monthly.
- Covered production is increased to 5 million pounds on the Tier 1 premium schedule, and premium rates for Tier 1 are substantially lowered.
- An exemption from paying an administrative fee for limited resource, beginning, veteran, and disadvantaged producers. Dairy operators enrolled in the previous 2018 enrollment period that qualify for this exemption under the new provisions may request a refund.”
This week’s update added that, “If you own dairy cattle and operate a dairy, you must register in order to participate. All dairy operations must make new coverage elections for 2018, even if the operation was enrolled during the previous 2018 signup period. Coverage elections made for 2018 will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2018. All dairy operations must sign up during the enrollment period and submit form CCC-782 (PDF, 3.49 MB) to enroll. Dairy operations may ‘opt out’ by not submitting a form. The final day to act is June 1, 2018.”
“If you have questions or want to enroll, contact your local USDA service center.”
