Dairy Farm Resiliency Act
3/6/2025, 9:06 AMSummary of Bill HR 294
Bill 119 hr 294, also known as the Dairy Margin Coverage Program Improvement Act of 2021, aims to make changes to the Agricultural Act of 2014 specifically related to the dairy margin coverage program. This program provides financial assistance to dairy farmers when the gap between milk prices and feed costs reaches a certain level, known as the margin.The main purpose of this bill is to improve the effectiveness of the dairy margin coverage program by making it more accessible and beneficial to dairy farmers. Some of the key provisions of the bill include increasing the coverage levels for dairy farmers, adjusting the feed cost formula to better reflect actual costs, and allowing farmers to update their production history to better reflect current conditions.
Additionally, the bill includes provisions to make the program more equitable for smaller dairy operations and to provide additional support for beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. It also aims to improve the overall stability of the dairy industry by helping farmers manage risk and navigate market fluctuations. Overall, the Dairy Margin Coverage Program Improvement Act of 2021 seeks to strengthen the dairy industry by providing better support and protection for dairy farmers, particularly in times of economic uncertainty.
Congressional Summary of HR 294
Dairy Farm Resiliency Act
This bill updates the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program.
As background, the DMC program was enacted in the 2018 farm bill to support dairy operations by allowing producers to buy a guaranteed margin for their milk production. The margin is the difference between the Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) national all milk price and a calculated feed cost, which provides producers optional risk protection on price and feed costs.
The bill updates the current requirements that a participating dairy producer have an established milk production history with USDA's Farm Service Agency. Specifically, the bill requires that a dairy operation's production history for DMC be based on the most recent three-year history and be recalculated every five years.
The bill also increases Tier I margin coverage for annual milk production to 6 million pounds or less (currently 5 million pounds or less) and Tier II margin coverage to over 6 million pounds (currently over 5 million pounds).
