Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 5 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Michigan Milk Producers Association and Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) to sell 158,733 pounds of Cheddar and Gouda cheese, 2.315 million pounds of butter and 1.574 million pounds of whole milk powder to customers in Asia and the Middle East. The product will be delivered June through November 2014.

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 57.232 million pounds of cheese, 50.229 million pounds of butter and 13.596 million pounds of whole milk powder to 41 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 1.746 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.