Training on dairy Margin Protection Program offered
October 22, 2014
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Extension will conduct a series of training sessions beginning Nov. 3 to inform dairy producers on the details of the Margin Protection Program in the new farm bill.
The Margin Protection Program is a new safety net system that will provide dairy producers with payments when income over feed cost falls below the margin coverage levels that producers can choose each year. The purpose of MPP is to protect farm equity by guarding against detrimentally low margins from low milk prices, high feed costs or both.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency and Indiana Dairy Producers will contribute to the MPP training sessions, which will help producers understand the details of the program and how to enroll, and demonstrate the tools available to help dairy producers make decisions about participation, percentage of production to protect and margin levels.
The first four meetings will be presented by Chris Wolf, a professor of agricultural economics from Michigan State University who was integral in developing analytical tools for MPP, alongside experts from Purdue, FSA and IDP. The last two sessions will be presented by Nicole Widmar, a Purdue associate professor of agricultural economics, along with the other experts.
Training schedule:
* Nov. 3: 9:30 a.m. to noon, Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds Ag Hall, 17746-D County Road 34, Goshen.
* Nov. 3 6-8:30 p.m., Hancock County Fairgrounds Exhibit Hall, 620 Apple St. Greenfield.
* Nov. 4: 9:30 a.m. to noon, Jackson County Learning Center, 323 Dupont Circle, Seymour.
* Nov. 4: 6-8:30 p.m., 4-H Community Building, 547 S. Briant St., Huntington.
* Nov. 18: 1-3:30 p.m., Dubois County 4-H Fairgrounds, 4157 S. state Route 162, Huntingburg.
* Nov. 19: 9-11:30 a.m., Beck Agricultural Center, 4540 U.S. 52 W, West Lafayette.
Registration will be during the first half hour of each event.
Writer: Emma Hopkins, 765-494-8402, hopkine@purdue.edu
Source: Michael Schutz, 765-494-9478, mschutz@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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