Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) member cooperatives accepted 15 offers of export assistance from CWT that helped them capture sales contracts for 2.932 million pounds (2,020 metric tons) of Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda cheese, and 83,776 pounds (38 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, Central America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The product will be delivered during the period from January through July 2019.

CWT-assisted member cooperative export sales for the first two weeks of 2019 total 7.385 million pounds of American-type cheeses, 537,928 pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 1.124 million pounds of whole milk powder to 13 countries in six regions. These sales are the equivalent of 88.5 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively affects all U.S. dairy farmers and all dairy cooperatives by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price. It does this by helping member cooperatives gain and maintain world market share for U.S dairy products. As a result, the program has significantly expanded the total demand for U.S. dairy products and the demand for U.S. farm milk that produces those products.

The amounts of dairy products and related milk volumes reflect current contracts for delivery, not completed export volumes. CWT pays export assistance to the bidders only when export and delivery of the product is verified by required documentation.

All dairy farmers and all dairy cooperatives should invest in CWT. Membership information is available on the CWT website at www.cwt.coop.