Update from WUD Economic Affairs Team

Where to enroll: your local FSA office (USDA Service Center Locator HERE)

Deadline: February 18th for the 2022 program. (The deadline will allow producers to view 2022 markets nearly two months into the year).

General program details:

• Offers producers an opportunity to protect a margin over feed of up to $9.50 per hundredweight.
• Margin is based on US all milk price and a dairy ration (corn, soybean meal and alfalfa).
• USDA updated the alfalfa price series to premium/supreme alfalfa (formerly was the average of regular alfalfa and premium/supreme) – for 2021, this resulted in an increase of about $0.20 per hundredweight for months with payouts.
• USDA updated the alfalfa price series to premium/supreme alfalfa (formerly was the average of regular alfalfa and premium/supreme) – for 2021, this resulted in an increase of about $0.20 per hundredweight for months with payouts.
• Coverage is ideal for five million pounds per year (416,667 pounds per month) at the $9.50 level – beyond this volume, costs for coverage escalate considerably for the higher margin levels.
  • Producers with more than 5 million pounds per year can sign up the remainder of their milk (beyond the 5 million pounds) for the zero cost $4.00 margin
• While current escalated milk futures levels are resulting in no payout projections for 2022, there is a lot that can change throughout the year in both milk and/or feed markets.