Klobuchar was successful in getting deadline extended; Farmers have until Friday, June 8 to sign up; Margins for February, March, and April have triggered payments at the $8.00, $7.50, and $7.00 coverage levels  

WASHINGTON— U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar today urged Minnesota dairy farmers to enroll in the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP), which will provide dairy producers with more cost-effective protections from shifting milk and feed prices, by the updated deadline of this Friday, June 8. The margins between the all-milk price and feed costs for February, March, and April have triggered payments at the $8.00, $7.50, and $7.00 hundredweight (cwt) coverage levels. Any producer purchasing 2018 margin coverage at these levels will begin receiving payments as early as this week.

Klobuchar and a bipartisan group of senators were successful in an effort to get the program deadline extended from June 1. As of May 29 of this year, 57 percent of Minnesota dairy farmers were enrolled in MPP.

Dairy farmers who have not yet enrolled can contact their local Farm Service Agency to discuss their options and sign up for the program and can estimate how the program would work for their operation using an online calculator, available on the USDA website.

“As the backbone of our economy, farmers throughout Minnesota and across the country must have our support during periods of low prices like we are experiencing now. As of this week, Minnesota dairy farmers and families are getting much-needed relief from the recent improvements to the Margin Protection Program, and I encourage those who are not enrolled to do so by Friday.”

Klobuchar, who is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, helped craft the 2014 Farm Bill and served on the conference committee responsible for negotiating the final version of the legislation. The five-year bill passed with strong bipartisan support. It reduces the deficit by $23 billion, strengthens the safety net for Minnesota farmers and ranchers, streamlines conservation programs, and supports homegrown energy.

Klobuchar helped craft and supported the improvements to the MPP for dairy that were included in the Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2018. The final bill gave producers another chance to sign-up or change coverage levels for 2018, targeted benefits to small and medium-sized farms, and removed an arbitrary cap on dairy insurance that allows for innovative new risk management tools.

###