Sign Up for USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage Program

This one’s for our Golden State dairy farmers; if you’re looking to protect your financial margin between milk prices and feed costs, you should check out the USDA’s Dairy Margin Coverage Program.

Chris Galen, senior vice president of member services and governance with the National Milk Producers Federation, says DMC is a big improvement over past dairy support programs.

“We decided about ten years ago to work with Congress to come up with something better: something that isn't just tied to the price of milk, that doesn't involve the USDA coming into the market that way as a buyer of last resort, and coming up with a system that is modeled somewhat after crop insurance, where it's a type of economic insurance. You know going in kind of what a good milk price is and what a good margin is. This program allows you then to buy different levels of coverage, from low to high. You have to pay more for higher coverage, obviously, but it's just like any other form of insurance. It allows you to cover your bottom line against bad conditions either caused by low milk prices or by high feed costs.”

“Margins were so poor throughout much of 2023 that, even right now, things are just kind of mediocre… The forecast is for better conditions, not great conditions, but certainly improved conditions in 2024.”