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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 2004 2009 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ± % on
2018 		± % on
2017
January 738.086 823.902 962.429 994.051 1.025.653 1.060.944 1.098.670 1.098.353 -0,0% +3,5%
February 702.891 764.913 859.444 896.718 947.534 958.353 992.824 991.346 -0,1% +3,4%
March 785.512 866.838 976.029 1.012.958 1.028.623 1.069.805 1.108.022 1.120.525 +1,1% +4,7%
April 759.841 844.089 967.274 977.295 1.003.160 1.057.075 1.078.148 1.080.298(p) +0,2% +2,2%
May 752.124 852.267 977.216 988.244 1.010.684 1.074.670 1.085.249
June 715.323 834.209 951.043 976.094 998.421 1.044.006 1.065.989
July 708.812 838.805 964.954 1.001.992 1.020.845 1.052.002 1.087.097
August 719.527 846.589 935.640 979.016 1.006.841 1.045.340 1.086.966
September 714.566 840.824 942.960 965.502 991.449 1.026.816 1.059.076
October 748.197 861.440 987.792 1.018.031 1.052.206 1.082.448 1.154.170
November 754.506 837.973 965.211 986.421 1.029.164 1.065.705 1.095.965
December 773.765 862.350 1.022.113 1.035.073 1.066.963 1.102.798 1.112.411
Jan-Apr 2.986.330 3.299.742 3.765.176 3.881.022 4.004.970 4.146.177 4.277.664 4.290.522
% y-o-y ¹ +14,7% +10,5% +14,1% +3,1% +3,2% +3,5% +3,2% +0,3%
Total Year 8.873.150 10.074.199 11.512.105 11.831.395 12.181.543 12.639.962 13.024.587
% y-o-y ¹ +11,7% +13,5% +14,3% +2,8% +3,0% +3,8% +3,0%
Last Update: 05-06-2019
1) change from the same period of previous year , except for years 2004, 2009, 2014, 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.