Dairy Farm Resiliency Act

This bill aims to help dairy farms better handle price swings and feed costs. It updates the Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program, which works like optional insurance on the “margin” between milk prices and feed costs, giving farms a safety net when that gap gets too small.

It changes how a farm’s milk production history is set for DMC. Instead of using a fixed old year, USDA would use the farm’s most recent three-year average and update it every five years. It also raises the lower-cost coverage tier (Tier I) to cover up to 6 million pounds of milk per year, up from 5 million, with Tier II starting above 6 million pounds. These updates are meant to better match coverage to what farms produce today and give smaller and mid-size dairies more affordable protection .

Key points

• Who is affected: Dairy farms that use or may use DMC coverage.
• What changes: Production history will be based on the latest three years and recalculated every five years; Tier I coverage grows to 6 million pounds per year, with Tier II above that amount .
• Why it matters: Coverage should better reflect current farm production and provide a stronger safety net when feed costs rise or milk prices fall.