Farm Radio

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced today the availability of a  new web-based tool  – developed in partnership with the University of Wisconsin – to help dairy producers evaluate various scenarios using different coverage levels through the new  Dairy Margin Coverage  (DMC) program. The 2018 Farm Bill authorized DMC, a voluntary risk management program that offers financial protection to dairy producers when the difference between the all milk price and the average feed cost (the margin) falls below a certain dollar amount selected by the producer. It replaces the program previously known as the Margin Protection Program for Dairy. Sign up for this USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) program opens on June 17. “With sign-up for the DMC program just weeks away, we encourage producers to use this new support tool to help make decisions on participation in the program,” Secretary Perdue said.  “Dairy producers have faced tough challenges over the years, bu...

The Bad, the Ugly, the Good on Wheat Lorrie Boyer “We are seeing less seeded wheat; lowest seeded area on record,  which is being attributed to rain in the plains last season causing planting issues,” says Senior Vice President of Communications for U.S. Wheat Associates, Steve Mercer. The bad here is that the trend is continuing and typically prices would rise for farmers as a result of this situation, but prices are staying flat, according to Mercer. Further, he says that the Russian crop is dominating in price buying in the middle East and “their crop looks good. They are a major player.” That is what causing the lack of price bump for U.S. farmers. That being said, prices are up over this time last year, but “they are not where we expect.” The ugly here is that the most recent USDA Stocks Report shows that there are 1.5 billion bushels of wheat stocks in the U.S. alone. He says that producers have done a good job producing wheat and conditions have been favorable. However...