Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 6 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers, and Tillamook County Creamery Association, who have contracts to sell 692,252 pounds (314 metric tons) of Cheddar, and Gouda cheese, and 330,693 pounds (150 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and South America. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from May through November 2015.
Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 30.922 million pounds of cheese, 26.482 million pounds of butter, and 19.321 million pounds of whole milk powder to twenty eight countries on five continents. The amounts of Cheese, Butter and Whole Milk Powder in these sales contracts represent the equivalent of 1.022 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term, helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them. This, in turn, positively impacts all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.
The amounts of cheese and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when export and 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.
