Member cooperatives of Arlington, Virginia-based Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) accepted five offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 372,581 pounds (169 metric tons) of butter, 37,479 pounds (17 metric tons) of cream cheese and 418,878 pounds (190 metric tons) of whole milk powder. The product is going to customers in Asia, Central and South America, and the Middle East. The products will be delivered from May through July.
CWT-assisted member cooperative export sales contracts for 2020 total 16.076 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 4.641 million pounds of butter (82 percent milkfat), 1.960 million pounds of anhydrous milkfat, 2.477 million pounds of cream cheese and 17.882 million pounds of whole milk powder. The product is going to 24 countries in six regions. These sales are the equivalent of 456 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.
Assisting CWT members in moving dairy products overseas through the Export Assistance program is critical during the challenging times U.S. dairy farmers and cooperatives are facing. The Export Assistance program helps in strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact producers’ milk price. The program is helping member cooperatives grow and maintain world market share for U.S. dairy products and is a significant factor in maintaining the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk.
Dairy product and related milk volume amounts reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.
The 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.
