Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 24 offers of export assistance from CWT secured sales contracts, raising the year-to-date milk equivalent of products sold to 419.3 million pounds on a milkfat basis.
The contracts captured this week included 2.302 million pounds (1,044 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese; 1.056 million pounds (479 metric tons) of butter, and 5 million pounds (2,268 metric tons) of whole milk powder. These products are going to customers in Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East, and will be delivered from March through September.
CWT-assisted member cooperative 2019 export sales now total 24.738 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 2.765 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 17.641 million pounds of whole milk powder. The products will be going to customers in 22 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.
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.
