Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 12 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Foremost Farms, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, Michigan Milk Producers Association and United Dairymen of Arizona to sell 1.122 million pounds (509 metric tons) of Cheddar and Gouda cheese; 908,305 pounds (412 metric tons) of butter and 44,092 pounds (20 metric tons) of whole milk powder (WMP) to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product will be delivered February through July 2013.
Year-to-date CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 23.735 million pounds of cheese, 12.824 million pounds of butter and 132,277 pounds of whole milk powder to 24 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 498.6 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. By comparison, in the month of January, U.S. milk production is estimated to be 71 million pounds ahead of January 2012.
Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program positively impacts producer milk prices in the short-term by helping to maintain inventories of cheese and butter at desirable levels. 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.
Source: Cooperatives Working Together (CWT)