News

July dairy product production higher

The USDA says overall cheese production for July was up about five million pounds from June, and about twelve million pounds from a year ago.  Total cheese production for July was 1.157 billion pounds, or 1.1% higher.

Butter production was 152 million pounds in July.  That’s up 3.1% from a year ago, but down 5.3% from just a month ago.

American-type cheese production totaled 468 million pounds.  That’s up slightly from a year ago and 1.5% higher than June.

Italian-type cheese production totaled 491 million pounds in July.  That’s 1.9% higher than June and 2.3% higher than July of last year.

Both nonfat dry milk and skim milk powder production are up more than 20% from a year ago, and whey product production is also up.  For frozen products, yogurt production is up 2% at 4.15 million gallons from a year ago, but sherbet production fell 12.7% and both ice cream, and low-fat ice cream production was down 3.5% and 2.9% respectively.

Cheddar cheese production was up about six million pounds from a year ago, but down about six million pounds from June at 331.6 million pounds.  Wisconsin was the top Cheddar producer, making 59.1 million pounds in July.

Overall, production for Mozzarella, commonly used in pizza, is up 5% from a year ago, and most of that comes from California.  Cheddar is 2% higher than last year.  Production for Feta fell 23.4% from last year and Romano production dropped 19.8% from a year ago.

Wisconsin remains the top cheese producer at 289 million pounds in July, even though production fell 1.2%.  California increased production 2.5% with 207 million pounds made in July. California’s 3% jump in Mozzarella production was a factor.