The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the launch of the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program for 2024, which will provide risk management to dairy farmers. Producers may join from February 28 to April 29, 2024, with payments beginning as early as March 4. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) changed DMC rules to extend calendar-year coverage retroactively to January 1, 2024. Eligible dairy enterprises may make a one-time change to their existing production history by merging supplementary and DMC production data. Producers may choose several levels of coverage, including a free option at the catastrophic $4 margin level. Although the program is optional, participating dairy producers will receive more than $1.2 billion in payouts by 2023.
