The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency encourages dairy producers to consider enrolling in the new and improved Margin Protection Program for Dairy, which will provide better protections for dairy producers from shifting milk and feed prices.

With changes authorized under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, the Farm Service Agency has set the enrollment period to run until June 1.

Local dairy producers can learn more about the revamped MPP-Dairy program at an information session at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. The meeting will be held at the Butler USDA Service Center, 625 Evans City Road, with Penn State Extension Dairy Educator Andrew Sandeen conducting the meeting.

The meeting will cover changes to MPP-Dairy; 2018 dairy outlook; the online decision tool and a question-and-answer session.

Farm Service Agency representatives will be available to answer program questions and enroll participants into the program.

Contact the Farm Service Agency office for more information at 724-482-4800, Ext. 2, or Andrew Sandeen, Extension Dairy Educator, at 724-465-3880.

About the programThe program protects dairy producers by paying them when the difference between the national all-milk price and the national average feed cost (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount elected by the producer.Changes include:- Calculations of the margin period is monthly rather than bimonthly- Covered production is increased to 5 million pounds on the Tier 1 premium schedule, and premium rates for Tier 1 are substantially lowered- An exemption from paying an administrative fee for limited resource, beginning, veteran, and disadvantaged producers. Dairy operators enrolled in the previous 2018 enrollment period who qualify for this exemption under the new provisions may request a refund.Dairy operations must make a new coverage election for 2018, even if producers enrolled during the previous 2018 sign-up period. Coverage elections made for 2018 will be retroactive to Jan. 1.All dairy operations desiring coverage must sign up during the enrollment period and submit an appropriate form (CCC-782) and dairy operations may still “opt out” by not submitting a form. All outstanding balances for 2017 and prior years must be paid in full before 2018 coverage is approved.Dairy producers can participate in FSA’s MPP-Dairy or the Risk Management Agency’s Livestock Gross Margin Insurance Plan for Dairy Cattle (LGM-Dairy), but not both.During the 2018 enrollment period, only producers with an active LGM-Dairy policy who have targeted marketings insured in 2018 months will be allowed to enroll in MPP-Dairy by June 1. However, their coverage will start only after active target marketings conclude under LGM-Dairy.

Online resourceUSDA has a Web tool to help producers determine the level of coverage under the MPP-Dairy that will provide them with the strongest safety net under a variety of conditions.The online resource, www.fsa.usda.gov/mpptool, allows dairy farmers to quickly and easily combine unique operation data and other key variables to calculate their coverage needs based on price projections.Producers can also review historical data or estimate future coverage based on data projections.The secure site can be accessed via computer, smart phone, tablet or any other platform.