Dairy products production in September lagged August rates

Processors made less cheese and ice cream in September compared to previous periods.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the September 2012 highlights today:

Total cheese output (excluding cottage cheese) was 871 million pounds,
0.3 percent above September 2011 but 1.9 percent below August 2012.

Italian type cheese production totaled 370 million pounds, 0.3 percent above
September 2011 but slightly below August 2012.

American type cheese production totaled 346 million pounds, 2.3 percent above
September 2011 but 2.1 percent below August 2012.

Butter production was 136 million pounds, 1.1 percent below September 2011
but 5.3 percent above August 2012.

Dry milk powders (comparisons with September 2011)

Nonfat dry milk, human - 84.4 million pounds, down 18.7 percent.
Skim milk powders - 43.6 million pounds, up 22.6 percent.
Whey products (comparisons with September 2011)

Dry whey, total - 74.0 million pounds, down 3.6 percent.
Lactose, human and animal - 86.7 million pounds, up 4.6 percent.
Whey protein concentrate, total - 34.0 million pounds, down 4.4 percent.

Frozen products (comparisons with September 2011)

Ice cream, regular (hard) - 58.8 million gallons, down 14.8 percent.
Ice cream, lowfat (total) - 33.4 million gallons, down 10.3 percent.
Sherbet (hard) - 3.17 million gallons, down 1.5 percent.
Frozen yogurt (total) - 4.97 million gallons, down 6.7 percent.

Released November 1, 2012, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA).