CWT Members Vote to Continue Export Assistance Program Through 2021
June 13, 2018
The NMPF Board of Directors voted in early June to continue the Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) program, the historic dairy farmer self-help export assistance effort.
CWT’s three-year extension, through 2021, comes at a time of growing U.S. milk production, weak global dairy prices and increased worldwide competition. CWT – developed and managed by NMPF – is the only program of its kind that enables farmers to use a private enterprise that increases the competitiveness of U.S. dairy exports. CWT is funded by dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers, who contribute $0.04/cwt. on their milk production.
“CWT is a unique and highly cost-effective tool for America’s dairy farmers, and the ongoing commitment of America’s farmer-owned dairy cooperatives to the program sends a signal to dairy producers at home, and dairy exporters abroad, that the United States will maintain a strong competitive stance in the global dairy market,” said NMPF Chairman Randy Mooney, a dairy farmer from Rogersville, Missouri.
Through the first five months of 2018, CWT has facilitated the sale of 56 million pounds of dairy products, representing the equivalent of 649 million pounds of milk. Since the export assistance program’s inception in 2003, it has helped members sell 887 million pounds of dairy products, the equivalent of more than 11.1 billion pounds of milk. For more information on CWT, visit www.cwt.coop.
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