NDFC: MILC payments not cut, but March payments will be delayed

It had been rumored for a number of weeks that Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program payments would be reduced as a result of sequestration. Not true, said Bob Gray, with the Northeast Dairy Farmers Cooperative  (NDFC).

Writing in the latest weekly NDFC newsletter, Gray said MILC payments will be paid in full for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2013. However, MILC payments for March will be deferred for 30 days as USDA makes the adjustments as to where the sequester cuts will be made.

The direct payment program for other commodities will receive an 8.5% cut over the next several months. So they will take the brunt of the sequester cuts. MILC payments are not direct payments, but rather are counter-cyclical payments, and are made only when milk prices are low.

As of the close of milk and feed futures trading on March 20, latest projections put March MILC payments at about 41¢/cwt.