Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) Program Open Now

Sign Up for Coverage by December 18

The USDA just announced that it opened the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) enrollment for the 2027 Program Year on October 5. The enrollment period will run until December 18, 2026. DMC is an important safety net program that provides producers with price support to help offset milk and feed price differences. As input prices rise and margins tighten, DMC is a cost-effective addition to any dairy’s risk management strategy. Click here to download our one-pager for more information about the program.

Here are important updates for the 2027 program year:

• For August, dairies participating in the DMC program received an indemnity of 16 cents per cwt after August’s margin was announced to be $9.34 per cwt. Looking ahead, enrolled producers could receive payments for the last four months of program year 2026.
• Based on the DMC Decision Tool (as of October 5), the forecasted margins fall to $7.93 in September and then recover to $9.48 per cwt in December. Although the recent margin projections rebound, they remain below the $9.50 trigger. If realized, this means producers would have received payments in the first two months and last five months of the current program year.
• For program year 2027, DMC margins are currently forecasted to be under the $9.50 trigger from January to September. If the projections hold true, enrolled dairies could receive indemnities for the first nine months.
• With program year 2026 enrollment, several program changes were implemented, including: increasing tier 1 coverage level from 5 million to 6 million pounds and requiring producers to update their production history (higher of 2021, 2022, and 2023).
• If a producer opted to lock-in coverage for 2026 to 2031 for a discounted premium, they must certify they still commercially market milk, pay the $100 administrative fee, and sign a contract each program year.
• For more information or to enroll in DMC for program year 2027, please contact your local Farm Service Agency office.

Keep reading for more details about the DMC program, and see how other dairy producershave used the risk management program.