Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 16 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold), Foremost Farms USA, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 1.631 million pounds (740 metric tons) of butter and 956,806 pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product will be delivered February through August 2013.

From the year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 22.613 million pounds of cheese, 11.916 million pounds of butter and 88,185 pounds of whole milk powder to 24 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 468.5 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. That is the annual production of 22,300 cows.

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.

02.19.2013