U.S. Dairy Safety Net Programs: History, Program Design, and Recent Performance

This report provides an overview of federal dairy safety-net programs that are designed to help dairy producers manage income and margin risk. The report focuses on the main active programs available to dairy producers, including Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC), Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP), and Livestock Gross Margin for Dairy (LGM-Dairy). Earlier dairy programs are discussed to explain how the current safety net developed and how federal support has shifted over time. Available tools for managing margin, revenue, and gross-margin risk are described, with recent trends in enrollment, covered milk, payments, premiums, and indemnities provided. Since these programs protect different measures of risk and operate through different program designs, the report compares them with attention to how each program operates.