DMC enrollment for the 2020 calendar year was scheduled to close Dec. 13. The application period for MFP originally closed on Dec. 6. Farmers interested in taking advantage of either or both programs should visit their USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office.
“2019 has challenged the country’s ag sector – prevented or late planting followed by a delayed harvest has been further complicated by wet and cold weather,” said Bill Northey, USDA undersecretary for farm production and conservation. “Because some of our producers are still in the field, time to conduct business at the local USDA office is at a premium. We hope this deadline extension will allow producers the opportunity to participate in these important programs.”
All producers who want DMC 2020 coverage – even those who enrolled in 2019 and took advantage of the 25% premium discount by locking in the coverage level for five years of margin protection coverage – are required to visit the FSA office during this sign-up period to pay the annual administrative fee.
The MFP is part of the 2019 Trade Mitigation Program (TMP), a $16 billion, three-pronged federal package designed to offset the negative financial impacts suffered by U.S. farmers due to ongoing trade and tariff wars. The second of three potential MFP payments – this one equal to 5 cents per hundredweight (cwt) on a dairy farmer’s annual milk production history – were scheduled to be distributed by early December, according to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. Earlier this fall, dairy farmers received an MFP payment of 10 cents per cwt on their annual production history. A third payment, another 5 cents per cwt, is tentatively scheduled for January, pending final USDA authorization. To be eligible for payments, producers must have been operating on June 1, 2019. 
-
Dave Natzke
- Editor
- Progressive Dairy
- Email Dave Natzke
