Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 11 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 291,010 pounds (132 metric tons) of Cheddar cheese, 299,829 pounds (136 metric tons) of cream cheese, and 1.629 million pounds (739 metric tons) of whole milk powder. The product is going to customers in Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East. The products will be delivered from March through June 2020.

CWT-assisted member cooperative export sales contracts for 2020 total 8.856 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 1.276 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat), 1.840 million pounds of cream cheese and 8.790 million pounds of whole milk powder. The product is going to 22 countries in six regions. These sales are the equivalent of 189 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.

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 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.