Small- and medium-size Minnesota dairy producers will have an extra week to complete enrollment in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) new Dairy Assistance, Investment, and Relief Initiative (DAIRI) program.

Applications postmarked by Oct. 8, will be accepted for the program, which provides qualifying dairy producers payments if they have first enrolled in five years of coverage in the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) program.

The USDA this week announced that it was extending the enrollment deadline for the DMC program by one week, to Sept. 27.

“We know there are dairy farmers who’ve been struggling for a while and I’d encourage them to not leave this money on the table,” Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen said. “We want dairy farmers to be able to continue doing the work they love and providing quality milk products for our state.”

The Minnesota Legislature this year authorized $8 million for the DAIRI program. In order to qualify, farmers must have produced less than 160,000 cwt (hundredweight) of milk in 2018.

The MDA is issuing payments on a rolling basis. Producers can expect to receive their first payments roughly two to four weeks after successfully applying. They will be paid based on production levels, up to 50,000 cwt of milk produced in 2018.

An application form, a W9, a copy of their DMC enrollment form, and a statement from their processor(s) detailing the amount of milk produced in 2018 are required to complete the application.

Producers may receive a second payment, depending on remaining available funds.

Additional information and the application forms are available on the MDA website’s DAIRI section.