Also, you may be able to increase your base
Federal payments that you are eligible to receive:
The deadline for the DMC (Dairy Margin Coverage) program is fast approaching. Signup ends on September 20th. This program has the potential to pay you up to nearly $20,000 dollars this year after premiums are paid. It all depends on your production base. ALL SIZE & TYPES (including organic) of dairies qualify for this program. Sign up under Tier 1 at the $9.50 coverage level. For 2019 this program is retroactive back to January 1, 2019. It’s one of those no-brainer decisions for 2019. If farms chose to enroll annually for the program, the 2020 signup will run from October 7, 2019 through December 6, 2019 at the county FSA offices.
The deadline for the MFP (Market Facilitation Program) ends on December 6th. This dairy program pays you for market disruption caused by tariffs. No premium, only payments back to you.
The possibility to increase your base:
The following information from Dr. Mark Stephenson at the University of Wisconsin provides some details how that might happen:
I have a bit of Dairy Margin Coverage news that I should pass on to you that I’ve recently received. Many producers have wanted to know if their production history could be revised upward to reflect growth over time. The short answer is probably “no”, a producer’s production history is the highest amount of milk produced in 2011, 2012 or 2013 and would include any of the “bumps” they received for the small national increases in production over their participation in the Margin Protection Program. But, if a dairy operation has officially brought a family member into the dairy operation as a new entity, the production added from cows purchased within 60 days is eligible for an increase.
There are a few qualifiers to this rule including:
- the dairy operation will be their principal source of non-investment earned income
- the member is a lineal descendant of a current member of the participating dairy operation
- there is a significant equity ownership in the dairy operation of at least 10 percent individually or 25 percent collectively for multiple members
- the member will contribute labor in the dairy operation at a minimum of 35 hours per week or have a plan for transition to full-time
- this is a one-time increase of production history for the term of the program maximum increased quantity of up to 5 million pounds
USDA is allowing eligible dairy operations to go back retroactively one time and this can be done until December 6, 2019. If you know of any of your producers who may fall into this category, please let them know so that they can get the additional coverage that they may want to have—including the payments from this year.
The MFP program also covers many other commodities & crops. The bottom line in all of this is that you may qualify for several of these programs that could put some money in your pocket. Don’t miss out. If you do, you’ll be at a competitive disadvantage in the market. Get yourself down to your local FSA office NOW to find out!