Washington, D.C. - Today Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) introduced legislation to support Minnesota’s agricultural sector and provide flexibility to growing dairy farmers under an existing government program.
This legislation proposes a modification to the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program to allow the option for farmers to make a one-time update to their production history, which will allow for a more accurate representation of a producer’s operation when using this risk management tool.
"As a Representative of Minnesota's largest dairy-producing county in the state, I have seen firsthand how determined these hard-working folks are, and how their success is vital to the overall agriculture community. While the dairy program is proving to be a critical improvement for dairy’s risk management tools, this legislation will give producers options that allow the program to better serve our dairy farmers. I look forward to the discussion as we begin to look at improvements for the next Farm Bill." Emmer said.
“Giving farmers the option of updating production history will better protect small farms who have committed their livelihoods to dairy farming. Minnesota Milk is pleased to see a proposal for changes on production history for the DMC program. Many dairy farmers – those with under 200 cows that made improvements in the past ten years – could use this type of flexibility.” said Executive Director of Minnesota Milk Lucas Sjostrom.
Background:
In 2018, Congress passed into law a comprehensive Farm Bill that included improvements to agriculture in Minnesota’s Sixth District, including better dairy risk management tools. However, the current rules for the DMC program do not always accurately calculate a farmer’s production. One factor in the program, production history, uses the amount of milk produced during the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 as a baseline. By allowing farmers flexibility to select an update to these production years, the bill will help the program become more reflective of a farmer’s present-day production and provide a more accurate representation when covering a producer’s margin.
Read the bill here.