News

Cheese, butter production down in April

The USDA says cheese and butter production declined in April.

That followed a year-to-year decline in milk production and an increase in domestic cheese stocks in the monthly cold storage report.

Total cheese production was 1.156 billion pounds, down 4.5% from April 2021, with a 5.5% drop in Italian type cheeses to 489.041 million and a 1.8% decrease for American type cheese at 465.415 million.

Butter production dropped 10.3% to 181.194 million pounds.

Nonfat dry milk production ticked 1.0% higher, while skim milk powder production fell by 36.5%.

Dry whey production was up 7% and lactose was 2.8% higher, while whey protein concentrate production was 8.1% lower.

Ice cream, sherbet, and frozen yogurt production were all down on the year.

The USDA’s milk production numbers for May are out on the 21^st.