The Margin Protection Program

MPP-Dairy offers a protection plan which provides payments to dairy operations when the difference between the all-milk price and the average feed cost falls below a certain, producer selected, dollar amount. Producers will be eligible for a basic level of margin protection for a small administrative fee, and be able to purchase greater coverage for a premium. The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) will use administrative fees collected to cover administrative costs incurred to carry out the margin protection program. Not renewed with Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; see Dairy Margin Coverage (Assistance Listing 10.127).

All dairy operations in the U.S. shall be eligible to participate in the MPP-Dairy program to receive margin protection payments. A dairy operation must produce milk from cows in the U.S. and must be commercially marketing milk produced at the time of enrollment and continue to market milk for the duration of the program. A dairy operation may participate in the MPP-Dairy program or the Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy (LGM-Dairy) but not both. LGM-Dairy is operated by the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). However since the MPP-Dairy program is made available after potential applicants under MPP-Dairy have applied for coverage under LGM-Dairy, for the open enrollment period established for the 2014 and 2015 calendar year coverage only, a producer with coverage under LGM-Diary that would like to participate in the MPP-Dairy program must register to participate in the MPP-Dairy program during the open enrollment period established for calendar 2014 and 2015 and agree not to extend or obtain new LGM-Dairy coverage.

Match: none required (federal program listing). This program has MOE requirements, see funding agency for further details.