{"id":93970,"date":"2018-06-06T16:03:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T20:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=93970"},"modified":"2018-06-06T10:15:56","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T14:15:56","slug":"state-agriculture-commissioner-encourages-dairy-farmers-to-sign-up-for-the-margin-protection-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=93970","title":{"rendered":"DEADLINE EXTENDED: State agriculture commissioner encourages dairy farmers to sign up for the margin protection program"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-89680\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/MPP-margin-protection-program-FSA-300x134.jpg?resize=300%2C134\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/MPP-margin-protection-program-FSA.jpg?resize=300%2C134&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/MPP-margin-protection-program-FSA.jpg?resize=150%2C67&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/MPP-margin-protection-program-FSA.jpg?w=336&amp;ssl=1 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>State agriculture commissioner encourages dairy farmers to sign up for the margin protection program; deadline extended to June 8, 2018<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>June 1\u00a0deadline approaching for dairy farmers to enroll in one-year program; farmers could see payments as soon as June, no premiums due until September<\/em><\/p>\n<p>State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today encouraged New York\u2019s dairy farmers to consider signing up for the Margin Protection Program &#8211; Dairy by the\u00a0June 1\u00a0deadline. Earlier this year, the United States Department of Agriculture updated the MPP, changing the value of the program for small to midsize dairy producers, reducing premiums, and increasing coverage. Because the margins have already been calculated for the first months of 2018, farmers who sign up now\u2014depending on the coverage level selected\u2014could see payments as soon as June and would not be charged a premium until September. Farmers also have the option to offset their premium costs with their payment and not face any out of pocket expense, aside from the $100 administrative fee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor the past several years, MPP was flawed and not meeting the needs of our dairy farmers,\u201d Ball said. \u201cThe changes made by USDA this year are a major improvement and almost guarantee farmers will receive financial relief, which is critical during these challenging times. I encourage farmers to review their options, use the online MPP Decision Tool and talk to staff at their local FSA to make an informed decision that is best for their family and operation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MPP pays dairy farmers when the difference between the national all-milk price and the national <!--more-->average feed cost (the margin) falls below a dollar amount elected by the producer. With the new MPP modifications, enrollment was re-opened and dairy producers now have until\u00a0June 1\u00a0to enroll for 2018. Some of the key changes to MPP for 2018 are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>First tier of coverage was raised from four to five million pounds.<\/li>\n<li>The cost of premiums for buy-up coverage on the first tier was cut by as much as 70 percent from previous levels.<\/li>\n<li>The margin is calculated monthly, rather than a two-month average.<\/li>\n<li>Limited resource, beginning, veteran and disadvantaged producers are exempted from paying the administrative fee. (Dairy operators enrolled in the previous 2018 enrollment period that qualify for this exemption under the new provisions may request a refund.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The State Department of Agriculture and Markets is also encouraging farmers who are already enrolled in the program for 2018, to reevaluate their coverage options and, if they would like to make changes, re-register their election by\u00a0June 1. Both new and existing enrollees can use the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.fsa.usda.gov\/mpptool\">MPP Decision Tool<\/a>\u00a0or visit a local Farm Service Agency office to determine their coverage plan.<\/p>\n<p>According to the USDA, farmers who sign-up at a certain coverage level should expect a payout from the new MPP for the February and March margins the week of\u00a0June 4. The margin for the month of April is expected to be announced by USDA\u00a0tomorrow, May 30.<\/p>\n<p>The margins for the first three months of 2018 were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For January 2018, the margin was $8.12 per cwt, so no payment was made at any level.<\/li>\n<li>For February, the margin was $6.88 per cwt, leading to a payment of $1.12 per cwt if a farm selects the $8.00 coverage level.<\/li>\n<li>For March, the margin was $6.77 per cwt, leading to a payment of $1.23 per cwt at the $8.00 coverage level.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All producers who want coverage for 2018 must register by close of business on\u00a0June 1, 2018\u00a0by following these steps:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Completing form CCC-782 and submitting the forms in person at a local FSA office.\n<ul>\n<li>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsa.usda.gov\/programs-and-services\/Dairy-MPP\/index\">usda.gov\/programs-and-services\/Dairy-MPP\/index<\/a> to access the forms that must be completed.<\/li>\n<li>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/offices.sc.egov.usda.gov\/locator\/app?state=ny&amp;agency=fsa\">sc.egov.usda.gov\/locator\/app?state=ny&amp;agency=fsa<\/a> to access a listing of the USDA FSA offices by county.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Elect a coverage level.<\/li>\n<li>Pay the $100 administrative fee (unless you qualify for a waiver as listed above).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Payments under MPP-Dairy may be reduced by 6.6 percent due to a sequester order required by Congress and issued pursuant to the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985. Should a payment reduction be necessary, FSA will reduce the payment by the required amount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>State agriculture commissioner encourages dairy farmers to sign up for the margin protection program; deadline extended to June 8, 2018 June 1\u00a0deadline approaching for dairy farmers to enroll in one-year program; farmers could see payments as soon as June, no premiums due until September State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today encouraged New York\u2019s dairy [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":89680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23679,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agfarming","category-top-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p43meu-orE","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/MPP-margin-protection-program-FSA.jpg?fit=336%2C150&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/89680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}