ARLINGTON, VA – Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 10 requests for export assistance from member cooperatives that have contracts to sell 1.490 million pounds (853 metric tons) of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese to customers in Asia, Central America, and the Middle East. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from July through October 2017.
So far this year, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 43.324 million pounds of American-type cheeses, and 3.013 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) to 17 countries on five continents. The sales are the equivalent of 467.666 million 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 affects all U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.
The amounts of dairy products 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.
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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 used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins. For more information about CWT, visit www.cwt.coop.