The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has updated its Margin Protection Program (MPP) website with new materials to assist dairy producers considering enrollment in the third year of the federal dairy safety net program. The enrollment period officially opened July 1 and ends September 30, 2016, for coverage in calendar year 2017, and farmers already participating in the program can change their coverage level during this three-month enrollment window.
Through MPP, dairy farmers can insure their farms on a sliding scale between $4 and $8 per hundredweight. The program was created in the 2014 farm bill to offer more extensive coverage for low-margin conditions than previous programs.
“The poor margins in the first half of 2016 demonstrate that the Margin Protection Program can play an important role in helping America’s dairy farmers manage their financial risks,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “While we continue to examine ways to improve the program in the future, farmers need to carefully consider their risk management coverage options in 2017.”
NMPF offers the following materials on the website’s Resources page:
ntal coverage levels, NMPF offers the following materials on the website’s Resources page:
· Overview of the Margin Protection Program
· A link to the MPP online calculator
· How to use the MPP online calculator
· Informative PowerPoint presentation on MPP
· MPP Margin Spreadsheet of Milk and Feed Prices, 2007-2015
The USDA has made several recent improvements in the MPP program in the past year, including the insurance that farms enrolled in the program will receive catastrophic coverage at the basic, $4 per hundredweight margin level on 90% of their production history, even if a farmer purchases additional, supplemental coverage at a level of less than 90% of their production base.
Also new this year, a farm’s production history can be restructured to accommodate new family members joining the dairy operation. Any dairy operation currently enrolled in MPP will have an opportunity during the 2017 annual coverage election period to increase the operation’s production history up to 4 million pounds per year.
Dairy farms already signed up for the MPP will remain in the program through 2018, provided that they pay the $100 administrative fee each year. Producers may select a different coverage level during open enrollment each year, and those enrolled in the MPP as of the start of 2015 will receive a 1.3% increase in their production history for 2017, reflecting the overall national increase in the nation’s milk supply since last year.