Secretary Sonny Perdue announced today that dairy producers can opt out of the 2018 Margin Protection Program without penalty.

 

Enrollment for the program is currently underway, though according to FarmandDairy.com, if you want to opt out of the program, simply don’t sign up during the registration period.

 

American Farm Bureau President President Zippy Duvall praised the move saying that too often it was too costly to pay the administrative fee just to sign up even for basic coverage.

 

Duvall also noted, “Approximately 24,000 dairy farms, representing 80 percent of the U.S. milk supply, are currently enrolled in the program, however, this year only two percent of the milk enrolled participated at levels above the basic coverage option. The low participation rate is due to the poor performance of MPP in providing a viable safety net to dairy farmers.”

 

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