Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 11 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Association, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold), Upstate-Niagara/O-AT-KA and Tillamook County Creamery Association to sell 669,764 pounds of Cheddar and Gouda cheese and 1.199 million pounds (544 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia, Europe, 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 57.073 million pounds of cheese, 47.924 million pounds of butter and 12.022 million pounds of whole milk powder to 40 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 1.693 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.