News

2016 U.S. cheese production tops 12 billion pounds

U.S. cheese production in 2016 was 12.158 billion pounds.

Milk production ran at very high levels for most of last year, with a bigger U.S. herd and generally good milking conditions in much of the U.S., allowing for a 2.8 % year to year increase in cheese production. Wisconsin produced 26.6% of the annual total.

Butter production was down 0.6% on the year at 1.839 billion pounds.

Recent USDA cold storage reports have showed U.S. cheese and butter stocks at or near record highs because of the high production levels and slow export demand.