Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 25 requests for export assistance from Bongards, Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold, Foremost Farms, Michigan Milk Producers Association, United Dairymen of Arizona, and Upstate Niagara Cooperative/O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative to sell 2.784 million pounds (1,263 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, and 4.381 million pounds (1,987 metric tons) of butter, to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product will be delivered November 2012 through May 2013.

In 2012, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Gouda cheese totaling 111.1 million pounds, butter totaling 71.1 million pounds, anhydrous milk fat totaling 127,868 pounds, and whole milk powder totaling 85,980 pounds. The product will be delivered to 36 countries on four continents. On a butterfat basis, the milk equivalent of these exports is 2.579 billion pounds, or the same as 69% of the increase in U.S. milk production through September 2012.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term by helping to maintain inventories of cheese and butter at desirable levels. In the long-term, CWT's Export Assistance program helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the farm milk that produces them.

CWT will pay export bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.

The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers' milk prices and margins. For more information about CWT, visit www.cwt.coop.

11.19.2012