The Livestock Risk Protection (LRP) program added two new types of insurance coverage on beef-on-dairy crossbred calves and dairy cull cows for the 2026 and succeeding crop years. In principle, the insurance program works much like Dairy Revenue Protection (DRP) and builds upon the LRP program already available to beef livestock farmers.

• For feeder cattle in the “unborn calves” category, beef or beef-on-dairy crossbred calves sold within two weeks after birth are eligible.
• For fed cattle, dairy cull cows can be covered with a limitation of 13 weeks.

Historically, calves born in the dairy industry could be insured under LRP as “unborn predominantly dairy feeder cattle.” The dairy-on-dairy calves born from semen of a dairy breed, such as Holstein or Jersey, must continue to be categorized as predominately dairy feeder cattle. As more dairy producers shift to breeding the top proportion of their animals to sexed semen and using beef semen on the rest, it may still be important to have coverage on the remaining animals born that are selling at top dollar.

A sample scenario for beef-on-dairy

Beef-on-dairy calf prices for many calves sold between 1 day old and 1 week old have exceeded $1,000 per head in recent months. Utilizing the LRP coverage prices, rates, and actual ending values calculator, dairy producers can estimate their premiums while these calves are in utero to establish a price floor for revenue protection.

Let’s walk through a working example.

As shown in the graphic, California dairy producers have a variety of coverage options ranging from 75% to 100% for intervals between 13 and 43 weeks. The data was pulled on July 8, with the earliest end date of October 7, 2025, the 13-week interval. Here, the expected end value of the beef-on-dairy calf’s worth was $1,256 and could be covered from $942 (75%) up to the full expected value (100%). This put producer premiums between 17 cents and $29 per head (for a 100-pound calf), respectively.

As of July 8, the expected end value for beef-on-dairy calves climbs to nearly $1,370 per head projected for May 2026 under the USDA-LRP calculations, pushing the producer premium higher. The premiums range from $2.58 to $57 per head (for a 100-pound calf), 43 weeks from now.

All of this to say it is relatively inexpensive to buy insurance on an animal where the market price is not guaranteed in times when dairy farmers increasingly rely on this important revenue stream to pay bills.

When implementing this plan, keep in mind that the timing must be strategized with the calving interval. According to the LRP rule, the calf for which the protection was bought must be sold within two weeks after birth.

If a dairy producer is looking to purchase the LRP product, you can work with the same agent that handles your DRP coverage, too.