Source: Cooperatives Working Together
During the month of January, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted 19 requests for export assistance from Darigold, Foremost Farms, Dairy Farmers of America, and Land O’Lakes for a sales total of 2,019 metric tons (4.451 million pounds) of Cheddar, Gouda, and Monterey Jack cheese to customers in North Africa, the Middle East, Central America, and Asia. The product will be delivered January 2011 through May 2011.
The CWT Export Assistance program was reactivated in March 2010. In 2010, it assisted members in making export sales of Cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Gouda cheese totaling 35,183 metric tons (77.6 million pounds) to 27 countries on four continents, and butter and anhydrous milkfat totaling 14,968 metric tons (33.0 million pounds) to nine countries on three continents. One-third of the cheese and half of the butterfat are scheduled to ship in the first six months of 2011.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term and long-term by helping member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products.
CWT will pay export bonuses to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.
Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) is being funded by dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers, who are contributing 10 cents per hundredweight assessment on their milk production through December 2010. The money raised by CWT’s investment is being apportioned between two supply management programs that strengthen and stabilize the national all milk price. For more on CWT’s activities, visit www.cwt.coop.
