Bipartisan Group of Senators Sends Letter to USDA to Prioritize Items from 2018 Farm Bill
Monday, April 1st, 2019 -- 8:54 AM
(Wisconsin Ag Connection) -A bipartisan group of 35 U.S. Senators sent a letter to the USDA last week urging Secretary Sonny Perdue to prioritize implementation of the dairy provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill.The memo, which included the signature of Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin, aims to bring relief to struggling dairy farmers. They stressed that the changes to the Dairy Margin Coverage program make it a much more flexible policy that will likely benefit many of the farmers who chose not to participate in the Margin Protection Program. They want the USDA to encourage these farmers to consider the Dairy Margin Coverage program. The USDA announced in March that dairy producers who elected to participate in the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy Cattle Program, or LGM-Dairy, now have the opportunity to participate in the Margin Protection Program for 2018 coverage. Sign-up will take place through May 10. Producers enrolled in 2018 LGM-Dairy were previously ineligible for coverage under MPP-Dairy, which is a safety net program available through the Farm Service Agency.
MPP-Dairy offers protection to dairy producers when the difference between the national all-milk price and the national average feed cost falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producers in a dairy operation. LGM-Dairy is an insurance product that provides protection when feed costs rise or milk prices drop. The gross margin is the market value of milk minus feed costs. Baldwin's office says as dairy farmers across the country continue to struggle from market instability, the 2018 Farm Bill dramatically expands support for dairy producers, providing flexible, affordable coverage options through the Dairy Margin Coverage program.
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