The Dairy Margin Coverage Calculator is an Excel-based tool that will help dairy producers estimate what potential payments would have been under the Dairy Margin Coverage Program established in the Agricultural Act of 2018. Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) replaces the Margin Protection Program (MPP) that replaced the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program.

This tool will show what payments might have been had the DMC been in place in previous years. Note that since the program was not in force, premiums may have been different to reflect insurance costs at that time. Nonetheless, looking back at previous years gives an idea as to how the program might have helped your operation. The tool will not compare payments you may have received under MILC program with or under the MPP program.

Shaded cells are available to change. On the tab for each year, enter annual production in pounds, the margin (threshold) you wish to insure, and the level of production you wish to insure. The premium and return to participation in the program at the chosen level will calculate automatically. Navigation buttons are also provided on each page to move from one year to the next.

This tool is designed to help producers who wish to use DMC to estimate the cost and potential return to the program.

Red triangles in the corner of a cell indicate additional information about the contents or values that should be entered in that cell. The Print button allows the user to print a one page summary.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this tool is intended to be used for informational purposes only. The premium this tool calculates may not be the exact premium owed by the producer. Users should evaluate the premium and potential payments carefully and check with Margin Protection Program providers to determine exact premiums and potential payments for their operation. Premium calculations in this tool are preliminary based on current knowledge and subject to change once the Margin Protection Program rules and regulations are written by USDA.

Note Regarding Security Settings: The decision-aid file contains macros (examples: buttons for printing and moving from the intro page to the calculator) which are required for the calculator to function properly. Security settings for Microsoft Office or Excel may give you warnings when you open the file regarding the safety of enabling the macros. This will especially be true if your security settings are set to high or very high. The macros in the file must be enabled for the calculator to function properly.