CWT Continues to Build Exports
September 7, 2011
The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program continued in August to assist CWT member cooperatives in exporting dairy products to benefit all dairy farmers. Last month, CWT accepted requests for export assistance totaling 4.6 million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese to six different countries in Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The product will be delivered in 2011.
That brings the total cheese that CWT has provided assistance for in 2011 to 62.3 million pounds of cheese export sales. When combined with the export sales it assisted in 2010 that have been or will be delivered in 2011, a total of 86 million pounds of cheese will be leaving the domestic market in 2011. That’s equivalent to 860 million pounds of milk, or the annual production of over 40,000 cows.
CWT will continue to assist CWT member cooperatives in building overseas markets of U.S. cheese through the remainder of 2011.
The program also continues to build membership participation for 2012-13 with a goal of achieving the 70 percent level. As of August 31st, 16 cooperatives representing 41 percent of the nation’s milk production have joined CWT for the next two years.
There is no question that moving the equivalent of 860 million pounds of milk overseas enhances the milk price every dairy farmer receives. That’s why every cooperative, whether they export dairy products or not, should be making the two-cent per hundredweight investment in CWT.
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