Recent CWT Export Assistance Puts 2013 Product Volumes Ahead of 2012
October 7, 2013
Through September of 2013, Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has provided export assistance helping members to sell 102 million pounds of cheese and 72 million pounds of butter to 37 countries on six continents. These volumes represent a 9% year-to-date increase in cheese volume and a 28% increase in the tons of butter (82% butterfat) that CWT has helped its members to sell. The products will be delivered now through March 2013.
How important are dairy product exports to dairy farmers’ milk checks? NMPF economist Dr. Peter Vitaliano estimates that the growth in U.S. dairy exports over the past three years, 2010 through 2012, has increased the average U.S. producer milk price by $1.35 per hundredweight (cwt.), and generated an additional $9.1 billion in net income for U.S. dairy farmers during those three years. In that three-year period, CWT provided assistance for members to export 63 million pounds of butter and 250 million pounds of American-type cheeses.
The CWT program is valuable to all of its members, even those who are currently exporting product. Of the 37 current CWT member cooperatives, 11 are using the Export Assistance program. The 26 cooperatives not currently using the program know that their businesses and their dairy farmer owners benefit from their 4¢ per hundredweight investment in CWT through higher market prices resulting from the increased exports.
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