Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 4 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Association and Tillamook County Creamery Association to sell 328,489 pounds of Cheddar cheese and 330,693 pounds of 82% butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and the South Pacific. The product will be delivered May through July 2014.

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 53.414 million pounds of cheese, 46.284 million pounds of butter and 10.337 million pounds of whole milk powder to 39 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 1.610 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

Assisting CWT members through the Export Assistance program, in the long-term, helps member cooperatives gain and maintain market share, thus expanding the demand for U.S. dairy products and the U.S. farm milk that produces them in the rapidly growing world dairy markets. This, in turn, positively impacts U.S. dairy farmers by strengthening and maintaining the value of dairy products that directly impact their milk price.

CWT will pay export assistance to the bidders only when delivery of the product is verified by the submission of the required documentation.