Over half of all licensed dairy farms have enrolled in USDA’s Dairy Margin Protection Program.

Jim MacDonald with USDA’s Economic Research Service tells Brownfield larger farms were more likely to sign up for coverage.  “This year for the 2016 year, production and farms moved heavily towards taking the $4 coverage.”  He says, “Four dollar coverage has no premium, it just has a $100 sign-up, so people are signing up for what is called catastrophe coverage.”

MacDonald, who authored a new report (click HERE to view) that evaluated changes in the dairy industry, says increasing international dairy production has created a new set of risks for dairy farmers.  “We have some more risks from international exposure, but in order to maintain our international access, we also have to design the program in certain ways so that we do not appear to be subsiding our exports.”

He says moving forward, the insurance program needs to address how to provide protection to farms that grow after signup.

Source – Dairy Agenda