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2nd Enrollment Period Opens for New Federal Dairy Safety Net

July 12, 2015

The second enrollment period for the Margin Protection Program — the new federal dairy safety net included in the 2014 farm bill — opened July 1st. Producers have until Sept. 30th to sign up at their county FSA office for coverage in 2016.

MPP helps protect against the kind of catastrophic losses that many dairy farmers experienced in 2009 and again in 2012. It does this by allowing farmers to use insurance to cover the margin between milk prices and feed costs. Producers insure their operations on a sliding scale, deciding both how much of their production to cover and the level of margin to protection.

NMPF was instrumental in MPP’s enactment and strongly encourages producers to use the program going forward.

To help farmers make coverage decisions, NMPF has updated the informational tools at the www.FutureforDairy.com website serving as a clearinghouse for information on MPP. Included are a brochure explaining the program and its importance to dairy farmers; a PowerPoint presentation that also highlights the benefits of the program; Frequently Asked Questions on the MPP; and a calculator allowing farmers to estimate future margins based on their forecasts of feed and milk prices.