Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 10 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 544,542 pounds (247 metric tons) of Cheddar and Colby Jack cheese, 846,575 pounds (384 metric tons) of whole milk powder, and 33,069 pounds (15 metric tons) of cream cheese. These products are going to customers in Asia, North Africa and South America. The product will be delivered during the period from May through October 2019.
These contracts bring the year-to-date dairy product totals to 27.137 million pounds of American-type and Swiss cheeses, 3.962 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 1.973 million pounds of cream cheese and 24.284 million pounds of whole milk powder. The products are going to 24 countries in six regions and are the milk equivalent of 532.3 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
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, www.cwt.coop.
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.
