News

Cheese and butter production growing

The USDA April dairy product numbers look bearish for cheese while butter and skim milk powder saw the largest shifts in production.

Total cheese production totaled more than 1.14 billion pounds, up eight percent on the year but down more than three percent from the prior month. Italian cheese production was up 7.4 percent on the year and down more than four percent on the month while American cheese was up six percent on year and down less than one percent for the month.

Butter production totaled 185 million pounds, up 18.5 percent from the prior year and nearly seven percent from last month.

Nonfat dry milk was down four percent from 2020 and skim milk powder was down nearly 20 percent. Dry whey production was down almost two percent while lactose was up more than three percent from the previous year.