Overview of the Agricultural Act of 2014 : Dairy Margin Protection Program and its implications for Washington dairy farmers

Abstract

The Agricultural Act of 2014, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, passed into law on February 7, 2014. The five-year Farm Bill contains significant changes that will affect farmers and ranchers throughout the country. The main program in the new Farm Bill that affects dairy producers is the Dairy Margin Protection Program (MPP). This is a new risk management program providing dairy producers with margin protection payments during times when their income margin (milk payment minus feed cost) falls below the protected margin coverage level. The purpose of this Washington State University manual is to describe the MPP and how it functions based on current program definitions, as well as its implications for Washington dairy farms.