Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 16 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 2.361 million pounds (1,071 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese and 665,796 pounds (302 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The product will be delivered July through December 2013.Year-to-date CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 66.923 million pounds of cheese, 52.393 million pounds of butter, 44,092 pounds of AMF, and 218,258 pounds of whole milk powder to 32 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 1.761 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
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 assistance 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.
7.02.2013