Source: Cooperatives Working Together
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 10 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell a total of 1,211 metric tons (2.670 million pounds) of Cheddar cheese to customers in Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. The product will be delivered October through December 2011.
In 2011, CWT has assisted members in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese totaling 33,996 metric tons (74.9 million pounds) to 23 countries on four continents. That is the equivalent of 749 billion pounds of milk, the annual production of 35,700 cows.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short term by reducing inventories that overhang the market and depress cheese prices. 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.
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.
