New figures have confirmed that the Dairy State put out more cheese and other dairy products than any other state during the past calendar year. According to the USDA's National Ag Statistics Service, Wisconsin produced 3.39 billion pounds of cheese varieties in 2020--about one percent more than the previous year's total, but lower than the record 3.42 billion pounds set in 2018.
There were 127 dairy plants in production during 2020, which was unchanged from the year earlier.
The report shows that total production of American, Cheddar and Hispanic cheeses were up last year in Wisconsin, while the output of Muenster, Italian, Mozzarella, Swiss, and other types of varieties fell. Dry whey production was also lower.
Meanwhile, total U.S. cheese production was 13.3 billion pounds, up fractionally from 2019 production levels. Wisconsin accounted for 25.6 percent of the nation's production.
The state's agriculture department is expected to release statistics on last year's specialty cheese production this week.
Categories: Wisconsin, Livestock, Dairy Cattle