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US: Cheese Production
This page contains:
  • a chart illustrating production trends over the last three years.
  • a table giving us an overview of monthly production, expressed in pounds, over a given period.
  • a chart comparing data for annual cheese production in the US and wholesale market price trends, as recorded by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and converted into Euros, over a given time period;
  • two graphs showing the annual and the cumulative monthly Cheese production trend in the EU-28 and U.S.

    • Visit the page: Cheese Stocks - US
N.B.:

We highlight the situation in the US for a number of reasons:
  1. more than 25% of the world's cheese production is located in the United States and the industry is enjoying continuous growth;
  2. with more milk available than anywhere else in the world (and therefore a guaranteed constant supply throughout the year) and thanks to considerable investment in research and development, the US cheese industry is able to cope with the growing demand from both the national and international markets;
  3. an appetite for new product varieties allows the American industry greater market share with more than 400 types of cheese. This selection ranges from the more common varieties (Mozzarella, Cheddar, Cream Cheese) to the most famous original American cheese, Monterey Jack.
Cheese production is concentrated in the following areas of the US:
  • Wisconsin is the largest producer, representing more than 25 percent of domestic production,
  • Northeastern States, California and the Northwest (Washington and Idaho),
  • finally, in the South, Texas and New Mexico, with the brand new Clovis site, North America's largest cheddar cheese production plant.

(May 2010)
US Cheese Production
Cheese * ('000 lb)
Month 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 ± % on
2019 		± % on
2018
January 754.667 842.519 994.051 1.025.653 1.060.944 1.103.315 1.116.577 1.110.515 -0,5% +0,7%
February 702.128 778.965 896.718 947.534 958.353 997.123 1.003.696 1.031.672 +2,8% +3,5%
March 798.044 895.269 1.012.958 1.028.623 1.069.805 1.112.430 1.122.414 1.124.028 +0,1% +1,0%
April 755.102 864.579 977.295 1.003.160 1.057.075 1.079.128 1.085.010 1.063.753 -2,0% -1,4%
May 782.092 881.106 988.244 1.010.684 1.074.670 1.085.293 1.105.886 1.098.068(p) -0,7% +1,2%
June 768.570 883.280 976.094 998.421 1.044.006 1.065.785 1.067.702
July 741.529 878.010 1.001.992 1.020.845 1.052.002 1.086.833 1.087.602
August 758.140 871.241 979.016 1.006.841 1.045.340 1.086.733 1.113.646
September 748.344 873.206 965.502 991.449 1.026.816 1.058.808 1.080.526
October 763.366 882.209 1.018.031 1.052.206 1.082.448 1.153.953 1.138.241
November 770.545 884.484 986.421 1.029.164 1.065.705 1.095.802 1.093.397
December 806.795 908.529 1.035.073 1.066.963 1.102.798 1.112.173 1.122.546
Jan-May 3.792.033 4.262.438 4.869.266 5.015.654 5.220.847 5.377.289 5.433.583 5.428.036
% y-o-y ¹ +8,9% +12,4% +14,2% +3,0% +4,1% +3,0% +1,0% -0,1%
Total Year 9.149.322 10.443.397 11.831.395 12.181.543 12.639.962 13.037.376 13.137.243
% y-o-y ¹ +10,8% +14,1% +13,3% +3,0% +3,8% +3,1% +0,8%
Last Update: 02-07-2020
1) change from the same period of previous year , except for years 2005, 2010, 2015, where the change is from the same period 5 years ago
*: Conversion ratio: 1 Kg = 2.2046 lb
**: Adjusted for months of 30 days (Ex. The calculation of the production change of June compared to May is obtained by considering [June production] compared to [May production : 31 x 30])
(p) = provisional
Source: National Agricultural Statistics Service
  = Min Production in the last 5 years
  = Max Production in the last 5 years
Click here to view the PRICE trend.
UK trade data for the period Jan - Apr 2020 are provisional