DMC providing relief to dairy farmers

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DMC providing relief to dairy farmers

The Farm Service Agency has paid more than a billion dollars this year for dairy farmers enrolled in the Dairy Margin Coverage Program.

Administrator Zach Ducheneaux tells Brownfield the margin between the price of milk and cost of feed from January through October triggered payments.

“Dairy farmers have faced many challenges, as has everyone else during the pandemic, and with the trade issues and unpredictable weather so it’s important that we provide these safety net programs for them,” he says.

This year the USDA retroactively adjusted the feed price to include rates for premium-quality alfalfa which will be a permanent change to the program.

Ducheneaux says a supplemental DMC has also been announced to adjust historical milk production numbers for farmers.

“Which will provide an additional $580 million to better assist small and mid-sized dairy operations that have increased production over the years but weren’t able to enroll that additional production,” he explains.

Sign up for the supplemental and 2022 DMC programs opens December 13.

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