These are good times for the dairy farm industry. Milk prices are high, feed costs are low. But as any dairy farmer knows, this will surely change.
When Congress finally got around to passing the farm bill for 2014, margin protection for dairy farmers got a close look, resulting in the Dairy Margin Protection Program, designed to help milk producers manage unpredictable incomes and the risks of the commodities market.
Enrollment for the MPP, which began Sept. 2, is just about to close, however. Despite an earlier extension, the enrollment window ends Friday.
The MPP offers producers no-cost catastrophic coverage, beyond an annual $100 fee, when the national margin is less than $4 per hundredweight (cwt.), and various levels of buy-up coverage up to $8 per cwt. To participate in buy-up coverage, farmers pay a premium that varies with the level of protection chosen.
To get a better understanding of their coverage options and to calculate how the MPP may work for them, dairy producers can access the online tool .
According to the USDA, November milk in Ohio averaged $24.40 per cwt., 80 cents below October’s average but $2 higher than November of last year.
Source: Mansfield News Journal