Released June 1, 2011, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service  (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of  Agriculture (USDA).


April 2011 Highlights
  • Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 882 million pounds,  2.1 percent above April 2010 but 3.2 percent below March 2011.
  • Italian type cheese production totaled 385 million pounds, 5.0 percent above April 2010 but 3.7 percent below March 2011.
  • American type cheese production totaled 357 million pounds, 1.0 percent below April 2010 and 2.6 percent below March 2011.
  • Butter production was 159 million pounds, 19.4 percent above April 2010 but 3.7 percent below March 2011.
  • Dry milk powders (comparisons with April 2010): Nonfat dry milk, human - 146 million pounds, down 4.4 percent; Skim milk powders - 27.0 million pounds, up 86.7 percent;
  • Whey products (comparisons with April 2010): Dry whey, total - 92.2 million pounds, up 5.0 percent; Lactose, human and animal - 80.3 million pounds, up 9.5 percent; Whey protein concentrate, total - 34.1 million pounds, down 6.0 percent.
  • Frozen products (comparisons with April 2010): Ice cream, regular (hard) - 75.5 million gallons, down 3.7 percent; Ice cream, lowfat (total) - 36.1 million gallons, down 1.5 percent; Sherbet (hard) - 3.79 million gallons, down 24.3 percent; Frozen yogurt (total) - 4.33 million gallons, down 5.1 percent.