Wisconsin's total cheese output rose for the second consecutive month during June when compared to year ago levels. The USDA reports that the state's dairy plants produced 225.9 million pounds of cheese during 'Dairy Month'–which was up 1.6 percent from last year, but just a fraction of a percent lower compared to the month earlier. With June only having 30 days on the calendar, many product categories did show lower totals compared to May.
Nationally, 882 million pounds of cheese was produced–about 5.2 percent more than the same month in 2009, and 0.3 percent above the May 2010 production totals.
Wisconsin's production of American cheese increased as the state produced 74.6 million pounds, about 4.1 percent more than last year, but 3.6 percent below last month's production. Cheddar output rose by two percent compared to 2009 to total 56.9 million pounds, but was 4.6 percent lower than the month earlier. Italian production was at 104.5 million pounds, down 0.2 percent below last year, and 1.0 percent lower for the month. And Mozzarella cheese in Wisconsin totaled 74.1 million pounds–down 0.8 percent from June 2009, but 0.5 percent more than May 2010.
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