Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 19 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold), Foremost Farms USA, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association, Michigan Milk Producers Association, United Dairymen of Arizona and Upstate Niagara Cooperative (O-AT-KA) to sell 3.814 million pounds (1,730 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese and 2.423 million pounds (1,099 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The product will be delivered January through June 2013.The 2013 CWT-assisted sales will be going to 18 countries on five continents and are the equivalent of 252.4 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. That is the annual production of 12,000 cows.
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 bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.
Source: Cooperatives Working Together (CWT)
