Washington—US cheese production during April totaled 1.14 billion pounds, up 8 percent, or 84.2 million pounds, from April 2020, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) reported last Friday.

April 2020 was the first full month of pandemic-related lockdowns and supply chain adjustments. Among other things, April 2020 cheese production was down 3.0 percent from April 2019. Compared to April 2019, cheese output in April 2021 was up 4.7 percent.

During the first four months of this year, US cheese production totaled 4.5 billion pounds, up 3.7 percent from the first four months of last year (which had an extra day due to leap year).

Regional cheese production in April, with comparisons to April 2020, was: Central, 537.3 million pounds, up 10.2 percent; West, 462.8 million pounds, up 6.3 percent; and Atlantic, 136.1 million pounds, up 5.5 percent.

April cheese production in the states broken out by NASS, with comparisons to April 2020, was: Wisconsin, 282.6 million pounds, up 6.4 percent; California, 207.3 million pounds, up 4.8 percent; Idaho, 87 million pounds, up 1.7 percent; New Mexico, 78.6 million pounds, up 2 percent; New York, 67 million pounds, up 1.2 percent; Minnesota, 64 million pounds, up South Dakota, 40.5 million pounds, up 18.2 percent; Pennsylvania, 39.7 million pounds, up 11.3 percent; Iowa, 29.2 million pounds, up 2; Ohio, 20.8 million pounds, up 12.6; Oregon, 19.8 million pounds, up 6.3 percent; Vermont, 12.9 million pounds, up 15.5 percent; Illinois, 5 million pounds, up 1.4 percent; and New Jersey, 4.6 million pounds, up 17.1 percent.

American-type cheese production in April totaled 473.4 million pounds, up 6 percent from April 2020. During the January- April 2021 period, American-type cheese output totaled 1.85 billion pounds, up 5.8 percent from the same period last year.

Production of American-type cheese with comparisons to April 2020, was: Wisconsin, 91.6 million pounds, down 2.4 percent; Idaho, 52.9 million pounds, down 2.5 percent; Minnesota, 52 million pounds, down 1.2 percent; California, 51.7 million pounds, up 13.7 percent; Oregon, 19.7 million pounds, up 6.3 percent; Iowa, 16.1 million pounds, down 3.5 percent; and New York, 12.6 million pounds, up 0.3 percent.

Cheddar production during April totaled 334.2 million pounds, up 1.2 percent from April 2020. Cheddar output during the first four months of 2021 totaled 1.32 billion pounds, up 4 percent from the first four months of 2020.

Production of other Americantype cheeses in April totaled 139.3 million pounds, up 19.6 percent from April 2020.

Italian And Other Cheeses

April production of Italian-type cheese totaled 480.7 million pounds, up 7.4 percent from April 2020. Italian cheese output during the first four months of this year totaled 1.9 billion pounds, up 2.1 percent from the first four months of last year.

April Italian cheese production with comparisons to April 2020, was: Wisconsin, 138.7 million pounds, up 7.7; California, 135 million pounds, down 0.1 percent; New York, 29.7 million pounds, up 2.9; Idaho, 29.1 million pounds, up 10.6 percent; Pennsylvania, 23.1 million pounds, up 3.9 percent; Minnesota, 11.8 million pounds, up 29.5; and New Jersey, 1.9 million pounds, down 18.6 percent.

Mozzarella production totaled 376.4 million pounds, up 6.6 percent from April 2020. Mozz output during the January-April period totaled 1.5 billion pounds, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier.

Production of other Italian cheese varieties during April, with comparisons to April 2020, was as follows: Parmesan, 40.8 million pounds, up 8.1 percent; Provolone, 30.7 million pounds, up 14.6 percent; Ricotta, 20.5 million pounds, up 4.5 percent; Romano, 5.8 million pounds, up 9.1 percent; and other Italian types, 6.5 million pounds, up 26.7 percent.

April production of other cheese varieties, with comparisons to April 2020, was:

Swiss cheese: 28.8 million pounds, up 12 percent.

Cream and Neufchatel: 76 million pounds, up 20.6 percent.

Brick and Muenster: 15.6 million pounds, up 15.2 percent.

Hispanic cheese: 28.4 million pounds, down 1.9 percent.

Blue and Gorgonzola: 7.3 million pounds, up 133.4 percent.

Feta: 9.4 million pounds, up 25.8 percent.

Gouda: 3.8 million pounds, up 17.1 percent.

All other types of cheese: 12.7 million pounds, up 0.4 percent.

Whey Products Output

Production of dry whey, human, totaled 73.3 million pounds, down 1 percent from April 2020.

Manufacturers’ stocks of dry whey, human, totaled 59.6 million pounds, down 21.5 percent from a year earlier and 5 percent lower than a month earlier.

Lactose production, human and animal, during April totaled 91.8 million pounds, up 3.6 percent from April 2020. Manufacturers’ stocks of lactose, human and animal, at the end of April totaled 125.6 million pounds, up 29.8 percent from a year earlier but down 1.2 percent from a month earlier.

Production of whey protein concentrate, human, during April totaled 38.7 million pounds, up 6 percent from April 2020. Manufacturers’ stocks of WPC, human, at the end of April totaled 59.1 million pounds, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier and down 1 percent from a month earlier.

April production of whey protein isolates totaled 10.8 million pounds, up 13.3 percent from April 2020. Manufacturers’ stocks of WPI at the end of April totaled 13.3 million pounds, down 9.1 percent from a year earlier and down 6.4 percent from a month earlier.

Butter And Dry Milk Products

April butter production totaled 185.2 million pounds, down 18.5 percent from April 2020. Butter production in April 2020 had set a new record for a single month, reaching 227.2 million pounds and breaking the previous record, 214.2 million pounds, which was set back in May of 1941.

Butter production during the first four months of 2021 totaled 780 million pounds, down 5.7 percent from the first four months of 2020.

Regional butter production in April, with comparisons to April 2020, was: West, 97.7 million pounds, down 9.8 percent; Central, 69.7 million pounds, down 27.9 percent; and Atlantic, 17.8 million pounds, down 20.2 percent.

Nonfat dry milk production during April totaled 194.6 million pounds, down 4 percent from April 2020. NDM output during the Janaury-April period totaled 775.5 million pounds, up 5.5 percent from the same period in 2020.

Manufacturers’ shipments of nonfat dry milk during April totaled 193.8 million pounds, up 16.2 percent from April 2020. Manufacturers’ stocks of NDM at the end of April totaled 302 million pounds, down 23.1 percent from a year earlier and 4.7 percent lower than a month earlier.

April production of other dry milk products, with comparisons to April 2020, was: skim milk powder, 41.6 million pounds, down 19.4 percent; dry whole milk, 13.8 million pounds, down 3.1 percent; milk protein concentrate, 18.9 million pounds, down 8.5 percent; and dry buttermilk, 13.1 million pounds, up 25 percent.

Yogurt And Other Dairy Products

April production of yogurt, plain and flavored, totaled 412.1 million pounds, up 13.9 percent from April 2020. Yogurt output during the first four months of 2021 totaled 1.6 billion pounds, up 5.6 percent from the first four months of 2020.

Sour cream production during April totaled 121 million pounds, up 9 percent from April 2020. Sour cream output during the January- April period totaled 483.2 million pounds, up 7.1 percent from a year earlier.

Cream cottage cheese production in April totaled 27.4 million pounds, down 13.1 percent from April 2020. Lowfat cottage cheese output during April totaled 24.2 million pounds, down 9.5 percent from a year earlier.

Regular ice cream production during April totaled 68.4 million gallons, up 7.8 percent from April 2020. Lowfat ice cream output totaled 40.5 million gallons, up 2.8 percent from a year earlier.