Looking to 2021, All Dairy Farmers Should Sign up for DMC, NMPF Says

With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis teaching hard lessons on risk management throughout agriculture, and with dairy margins expected to be volatile over the next year, the National Milk Producers Federation is urging farmers to sign up for maximum 2021 coverage under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Dairy Margin Coverage program. DMC signup begins today.

 

“The DMC emphatically proved its worth this year, as payouts rapidly reacted to unprecedented price plunges and protected farmers exactly when they most needed help,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO of NMPF. “Coronavirus-related volatility in dairy markets is expected to continue well into 2021, with DMC payments a possibility. That makes it essential that farmers include DMC coverage in the robust risk-management plans they will need to ensure financial stability.”

 

DMC, the main risk-protection tool for dairy farmers enacted in the 2018 Farm Bill, is designed to promote stable revenues and protect against financial catastrophe on some or all of a farmer’s milk. Despite forecasts in late 2019 predicting that DMC assistance wouldn’t be needed by farmers in 2020, margins instead fell to their lowest levels in more than a decade in the first half of this year, triggering payments that undoubtedly kept many participating dairies afloat. And unlike difficult-to-predict federal disaster assistance that’s provided via specific legislation or administrative action, DMC coverage offers certainty in times of need, allowing for better financial planning and faster payment when necessary.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.