Cooperatives Working Together (CWT), Arlington, Va., has accepted nine requests for export assistance from Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative Association and Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold) to sell 3.296 million pounds (1,495 metric tons) of Cheddar, Gouda and Monterey Jack cheese and 493,284 pounds (224 metric tons) of butter to customers in Asia and Europe. The product will be delivered August 2013 through February 2014.

Darigold ranks No. 14 on the Dairy 100, Dairy Foods' annual ranking of the largest dairy processors headquartered in the United States and Canada. Darigold had revenues of $2.2 billion in the year ended March 2013. Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers ranks No. 48, with annual revenues of $471 in 2012.

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives in selling 85.237 million pounds of cheese, 65.440 million pounds of butter, 44,092 pounds of anhydrous milk fat and 218,258 pounds of whole milk powder to 35 countries on six continents. These sales are the equivalent of 2.260 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis.

The Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) Export Assistance program is funded by voluntary contributions from dairy cooperatives and individual dairy farmers. The money raised by their investment is being used to strengthen and stabilize the dairy farmers’ milk prices and margins. For more information about CWT, visit www.cwt.coop.