Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 11 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Michigan Milk Producers Association, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) and Tillamook County Creamery Association to sell 850,984 pounds of Cheddar and Gouda cheese and 434,311 pounds of whole milk powder to customers in Asia, Africa, Central America, the Middle East, and North Africa. The product will be delivered June through November 2014.

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 54.265 million pounds of cheese, 46.284 million pounds of butter and 10.772 million pounds of whole milk powder to 40 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 1.618 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.