USDA Extends Deadline for Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Until August 11

Annapolis, MD July 26, 2023 –The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is extending the deadline for the new Organic Dairy Marketing Assistance Program (ODMAP) to August 11, 2023. This extension gives Maryland organic dairy producers more than two additional weeks to apply for the program. ODMAP helps producers mitigate market volatility, higher input and transportation costs, and unstable feed supply and prices that have created unique hardships in the organic dairy industry. This assistance will help keep Maryland organic dairy operations sustainable until markets return to more normal conditions.     

Through USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), $104 million is available to organic dairy operations to assist with projected marketing costs in 2023. Eligible producers include certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep. ODMAP assistance is calculated using a producers’ marketing costs in 2022. For new, transitioning or expanded organic dairy operations, assistance is based on projected marketed production in 2023. Eligible producers include certified organic dairy operations that produce milk from cows, goats and sheep.  

FSA will make an initial ODMAP payment to eligible applicants factored by 75%. If funds remain at the end of the application period, an additional payment, not to exceed the remaining 25%, may be issued to eligible producers.     

How to Apply  

Signup opened May 24 and closes Aug. 11, 2023. To apply, producers should contact their local Maryland FSA  USDA Service Center. To complete the ODMAP application, producers must certify to pounds of 2022 milk production or to a projection of marketed pounds in 2023, if applicable, and submit a completed application form.     

At the time of application, organic dairy operations are required to provide their USDA certification of organic status confirming the operation as an organic dairy in 2023 and 2022 along with the certification of 2022 milk production in hundredweight.   

ODMAP complements other assistance available to dairy producers, including Dairy Margin Coverage (DMC) and Supplemental DMC, with more than $611 million in benefits paid for the 2023 program year to date.  For details, visit the FSA Dairy Programs webpage. 

To learn more about FSA programs, producers can contact their local USDA Service Center. Producers can also prepare maps for acreage reporting as well as manage farm loans and view other farm records data and customer information by logging into their farmers.gov account. If you don’t have an account, sign up today. 

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit usda.gov.