Wisconsin Ag Connection - Workshop Offered to Assist Farmers with New Commodity Support Programs

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Workshop Offered to Assist Farmers with New Commodity Support Programs
Wisconsin Ag Connection - 08/21/2014

The recently approved farm bill means that several commodity support programs will be changing or new programs will be offered to eligible farmers. As a result, the University of Wisconsin-Extension office in Dunn County will be holding an informational meeting on September 16 at the Dunn County Judicial Center in Menomonie.

For dairy farmers, the old Milk Income Loss Contract program will go away and be replaced by a new dairy safety net referred to as the Margin Protection Plan for Dairy, or MPP-Dairy. Like MILC, this new program will be administered through your local Farm Service Agency office. The Livestock Gross Margin program for Dairy will continue to exist, but producers are eligible to participate in only one of these programs and will have to choose between them.

MPP-Dairy is an insurance-like product. It is a voluntary risk management program that provides payments to producers when the margin between the national all milk price and a national average feed cost falls below a chosen trigger level. Producers will sign up for this trigger level and select how much of their historic production to cover during a signup period once a year. Increasing levels of coverage, up to an $8 margin, will have increasing premium costs. Catastrophic coverage at the $4 level and below will only require a flat, annual $100 administrative fee. The new program is not overly complicated, but the annual participation decision is more complex than the MILC program was. Program signup is anticipated sometime this Fall. This is an important, new, risk management program that every dairy farmer should consider.

The program will begin at 10 am with a presentation from Mark Stephenson, University of Wisconsin's Director of Dairy Policy Analysis, will explain how the MPP-Dairy program works, what protection is offered, how much it will cost, and will provide a way to think about your personal decision process.

Lunch will be offered at 12:30 pm. Afternoon session updates on the 2014 farm bill will be provided by the Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Registration is not required for this workshop, though pre-registration is encouraged for lunch and materials. For more information contact call 715-232-1636.

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