Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 14 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 2.158 million pounds (978 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese, 524,700 pounds (238 metric tons) of butter, and 1.543 million pounds (700 metric tons) of whole milk powder. These products are going to customers in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Oceania. The product will be delivered during the period from February through August 2019.
CWT-assisted member cooperative 2019 export sales are equal to 337.8 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. The dairy products assisted total 22.436 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 1.709 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 12.641 million pounds of whole milk powder to 21 countries in six regions.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and all dairy cooperatives by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price. It does this by helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S dairy products. As a result, the program has significantly expanded the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.
The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.
All dairy farmers and all dairy cooperatives should invest in CWT. Membership information is available on the CWT website.
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.
