Digest highlights
- 2023 DMC milk enrollment percentage up
- House farm bill hearing held at World Ag Expo
- Gillibrand announces 2023 Farm Bill dairy priorities
- Coming up
2023 DMC milk enrollment percentage up
The USDA’s Farm Service Agency posted initial enrollment figures for the 2023 Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program.
As of Feb. 6, 16,683 dairy operations had enrolled in the program, representing about 73% of operations with established production history. Milk volume covered under the program totaled 155.3 billion pounds, almost 79% of production history established in 2022.
The report does not include enrollment in the Supplemental DMC program.
Although operations enrolled and total milk covered in 2023 is down slightly from 2022, the percentage of operations enrolled is steady with last year, and the percentage of milk production history is up.
In 2022, 17,966 operations, 73% of the total with production history, had covered about 157 billion pounds of milk, 74% of established production history.
In the 2021 DMC program year, operations and milk percentage enrolled in DMC was about 71%.
House farm bill hearing held at World Ag Expo
World Ag Expo kicked off on Feb. 14, in Tulare, California. In conjunction with that, the House Agriculture Committee held a 2023 Farm Bill listening session.
Held in one of the nation’s biggest milk-producing counties, dairy was top-of-mind as farmers and lawmakers discussed critical agricultural policies.
California dairy producers and National Milk Producer Federation (NMPF) cooperative members Brad Bosch, Jared Fernandes and Tony Lopes each discussed farmer needs as lawmakers begin work on a reauthorization of farm programs due later this year.
U.S. Rep. Glenn "GT" Thompson (R-Pennsylvania), House ag committee chair, presided over the session, accompanied by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), House speaker. Others attending the session were California Republicans David Valadao, John Duarte and Doug LaMalfa, California Democrats Jim Costa, Jimmy Panetta and Salud Carbajal, as well as U.S. Reps. David Rouzer (R-North Carolina) and John Rose (R-Tennessee).
Gillibrand announces 2023 Farm Bill dairy priorities
Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), released her dairy priorities for the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill. Among the highlights, she announced the reintroduction of the Dairy Pricing Opportunity Act.
As introduced previously, the proposal would establish a timeline for a national hearing on possible Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) reforms, requiring the USDA to initiate a hearing within six months of enactment. Of specific concern would be discussion of the Class I milk pricing formula implemented in 2019.
Gillibrand also called on U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai to pursue a dairy trade dispute settlement with Canada as part of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
Coming up
It’s a busy week ahead with the release of USDA reports monitoring and impacting milk prices. The January Milk Production report will be released Feb. 22. January cull cow slaughter estimates and Federal Milk Marketing Order advanced Class I base prices for March are announced on Feb. 23. The latest dairy product Cold Storage report will be released on Feb. 24. Check the Progressive Dairy website for updates as they become available.
