Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection 2811 Agriculture Dr., Madison, WI 53718 1-800-789-9277 www.nass.usda.gov/wi Wisconsin Farm Reporter

Specialty Production May 5, 2021 - Vol. 21, No. 8 With 26 percent of the nation’s total cheese production, Wis- Inside This Issue: consin maintained its ranking as the nation’s top cheese pro- • Specialty Cheese Production • Dairy Products Annual Summary ducing state in 2020. At 796 million pounds, specialty cheese • Chickens & Eggs accounted for 23 percent of Wisconsin’s total cheese produc- • Milk Production tion. This was an decrease of 20.8 million pounds from 2019. Ninety-one of the State’s 120 cheese plants manufactured at The Wisconsin Farm Reporter is compiled from data and reports re- leased by the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). least one type of specialty cheese during 2020. All NASS data and reports are available free at www.nass.usda.gov Wisconsin cheese makers are known for offering a wide varie- ty of high quality specialty . A specialty cheese is a value-added product which commands a premium price. Ac- cording to the Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute, the na- Billion Total Cheese Production, ture of specialty cheese is derived from one or more unique Pounds Wisconsin, 1995-2020 qualities, such as exotic origin, particular processing or design, 4.0 limited supply, unusual application or use, and extraordinary 3.5 packaging or channel of sale. The common denominator is its 3.0 very high quality.

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2.0 SPECIALTY CHEESE PRODUCTION 1.5 Wisconsin, 2019 and 2020 2019 2019 2020 Change in 2020 1.0 Type number of revised number of production production 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 producers production producers from 2019 (1,000 lbs.) (1,000 lbs.) (percent) Asiago 13 33,001 13 30,873 -6 Blue (D) (D) 8 46,335 (NA) Million American & Italian Cheese Production, Cheddar 1 44 30,199 40 36,340 +20 Pounds Wisconsin, 1995-2020 Farmers 11 1,088 13 1,097 +1 1,900 Feta 10 101,035 9 92,149 -9 1,700 8 16,547 7 13,908 -16 Gouda 28 14,527 32 13,753 -5 1,500 Italian 11 10,047 11 9,791 -3 1,300 Havarti 12 43,209 13 42,334 -2 Hispanic 16 96,838 19 105,068 +8 1,100 Limburger 1 365 1 369 +1 900 1 16 13,126 16 17,142 +31 Parmesan Wheel 6 74,656 6 77,558 +4 700 Romano Wheel 6 9,773 7 10,049 +3 500 Swiss 1 6 4,075 8 3,846 -6 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 All Other 2 50 368,453 42 295,571 -20 Total 3 4 96 816,939 91 796,183 -3 Italian American (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. (NA) Not available. 1 Includes only specialty types of this variety. 2 Combined to avoid disclosure of individual plant data. Includes: Alpine, American , Thousand Specialty Cheese Production, Auribella, Bel Paese, Blue (2019 only), Brie and Camembert, Butterkase, specialty Colby, Edam, Fior di Latte, Fontinella, Gruyere, other specialty Pounds Wisconsin, 2012-2020 850 Italian, Italico, Juustoleipa, Kasseri, , Middle Eastern cheeses, specialty , other specialty Parmesan, Pepato, Peperon, specialty 800 , other specialty Romano, Soft-ripened, Tvarog Polish, and Yogurt 3 750 cheese. Total cheese plants producing one or more specialty cheeses. 4 Data may not add to totals due to rounding. 700 650 600 550 500 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Wisconsin Farm Reporter 2

Cheese Production: Wisconsin, 2016-2020 Total Total Year Hispanic Muenster Italian Mozzarella Swiss cheese 1 American 2 (1,000 pounds)

2016 ...... 3,248,440 963,413 85,403 60,232 1,642,286 1,092,440 18,201 2017 ...... 3,376,769 1,016,702 90,982 61,690 1,703,029 1,110,105 16,664 2018 ...... 3,422,961 1,025,840 93,395 61,871 1,729,627 1,138,200 17,377 2019 ...... 3,362,487 1,003,026 96,838 63,837 1,698,934 1,110,363 16,976 2020 ...... 3,389,763 1,063,446 105,068 69,397 1,645,934 1,078,817 15,023 1 Includes and other miscellaneous . Does not include cottage cheese. 2 Includes Cheddar, Colby, washed curd, stirred curd, and Mon- terey Jack.

American Cheese Production, By Style: Wisconsin, 2020 Italian Cheese Production, By Style: Wisconsin, 2020 Style Production Percent of total1 Style Production Percent of total1 (1,000 lbs) (1,000 lbs) American Cheddar Hard 40-lb block ...... 268,148 25.2 Asiago ...... 30,873 1.9 640-lb block...... 331,514 31.2 Parmesan ...... 220,274 13.4 Other types 2 ...... 143,574 13.5 Provolone ...... 193,497 11.8 Colby ...... 89,050 8.4 Romano ...... 31,009 1.9

Monterey Jack ...... 231,160 21.7 Soft Total American types ...... 1,063,446 100.0 Mozzarella ...... 1,078,817 65.4 1 Percents may not add to 100 due to rounding. 2 Includes barrels.

All other ...... 91,464 5.6

Total Italian ...... 1,645,934 100.0 1 Percents may not add to 100 due to rounding.

Total Cheese, Excluding Cottage Cheese: Wisconsin, 2020 Cheddar Cheese: Wisconsin, 2020 Ranges of Annual Production State Plants Production Ranges of Annual Production1 State Plants Production (1,000 lbs) (1,000 lbs) Less than 1 million pounds ...... 34 7,309 Less than 1 million pounds ...... 36 7,577 1 to 4.99 million pounds...... 20 47,992 1 to 9.99 million pounds ...... 12 20,948 5 to 9.99 million pounds...... 17 92,907 10 million pounds and over ...... 17 714,711 10 to 24.99 million pounds ...... 14 231,726 Total ...... 65 743,236 25 million pounds and over ...... 35 3,009,849 1Plant qualifies for a certain range based only on its Cheddar production. Total ...... 120 3,389,783

Italian Cheese: Wisconsin, 2020 Mozzarella Cheese: Wisconsin, 2020 Ranges of Annual Production 1 State Plants Production Ranges of Annual Production1 State Plants Production (1,000 lbs) (1,000 lbs) Less than 1 million pounds ...... 17 3,458 Less than 1 million pounds ...... 11 2,633 1 to 19.99 million pounds ...... 12 115,944 1 to 19.99 million pounds ...... 8 49,746 20 million pounds and over ...... 23 1,526,532 20 million pounds and over...... 15 1,026,438 Total ...... 52 1,645,934 Total...... 34 1,078,817 1Plant qualifies for a certain range based only on its Italian production. 1. Plant qualifies for a certain range based only on its Mozzarella production.

Processed Cheese And Cheese Foods: Whey Products: Wisconsin, 2016-2020 Wisconsin, 2016-2020 Dry whey Whey protein Total Processed Cold pack cheese Year Human concentrate Year Animal lactose cheese foods & spreads and cheese food human food (1,000 pounds) (1,000 pounds solids) 2016 703,388 184,271 21,867 2016 312,946 4,390 259,609 103,949 2017 716,886 161,199 25,813 2017 345,567 3,795 278,454 107,971 2018 694,099 162,822 24,647 2018 319,747 6,240 285,464 109,894 2019 578,332 336,831 25,116 2019 285,831 4,791 260,280 105,503 2020 625,357 178,225 31,840 2020 280,226 (D) 214,406 101,258 Wisconsin Farm Reporter 3

Chickens & Eggs Egg-type chicks hatched during March 2021 totaled 62.3 mil- lion, up 11% from March 2020. Eggs in incubators totaled 55.7 Wisconsin egg production during March 2021 was 190 million million on April 1, 2021, down 3% from a year ago. eggs, up 11% from last month and up 1% from a year ago. The Domestic placements of egg-type pullet chicks for future average number of all layers on hand during March 2021 was hatchery supply flocks by leading breeders totaled 7.67 million, up slightly from last month and up 3% from last 327 thousand during March 2021, up 2% from March 2020. March. Eggs per 100 layers for March were 2,481, up 11% from last month but down 2% from March 2020. Broiler-type chicks hatched during March 2021 totaled 842 million, down 2% from March 2020. Eggs in incubators totaled United States egg production totaled 9.54 billion during 717 million on April 1, 2021, up 4% from a year ago. March 2021, down slightly from last year. Production included 8.25 billion table eggs, and 1.29 billion hatching eggs, of which 1.21 billion were broiler-type and 82.8 million were egg-type. Million Average Numbers of All Layers on Hand, head Wisconsin, 2020-2021 The average number of layers during March 2021 totaled 393 8.0 million, down 1% from last year. March egg production per 100 layers was 2,427 eggs, up 1% from March 2020. 7.8 Total layers in the United States on April 1, 2021 totaled 392 7.6 million, down 1% from last year. The 392 million layers con- 7.4 sisted of 326 million layers producing table or market type eggs, 63.6 million layers producing broiler-type hatching eggs, 7.2 and 3.09 million layers producing egg-type hatching eggs. 7.0 Rate of lay per day on April 1, 2021, averaged 78.8 eggs per JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC 100 layers, up 1% from April 1, 2020. 2020 2021

Layers on Hand and Eggs Produced – States and United States: During March 2020 and 2021 Table egg layers All layers Eggs per Total egg Table egg in flocks on hand 100 layers production production State 30,000 & above 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 (1,000 layers) (eggs) (million eggs) Alabama ...... 1,421 1,425 10,203 10,697 1,901 1,935 194.0 207.0 35.2 36.4 Arkansas ...... (D) (D) 14,998 15,208 2,027 2,017 304.0 306.8 (D) (D) California ...... 12,931 13,121 13,639 13,789 2,401 2,489 327.5 343.2 (D) (D) Colorado ...... 4,391 4,608 4,904 5,116 2,571 2,594 126.1 132.7 (D) (D) Georgia ...... 9,981 9,191 20,513 19,771 2,135 2,173 438.0 429.6 242.2 229.9 Illinois ...... 6,077 5,508 6,615 6,082 2,237 2,496 148.0 151.8 145.5 147.4 Indiana ...... 34,028 33,627 35,304 34,886 2,507 2,525 885.2 880.9 868.1 864.6 Iowa ...... 57,502 53,771 59,229 55,663 2,414 2,489 1,429.8 1,385.4 1,408.2 1,360.6 Kentucky ...... (D) (D) 5,733 5,817 2,226 2,264 127.6 131.7 (D) (D) Maryland ...... 2,512 2,467 2,704 2,665 2,548 2,552 68.9 68.0 67.6 66.6 Michigan ...... 15,943 14,177 16,257 14,472 2,483 2,510 403.6 363.3 (D) (D) Minnesota ...... 10,582 7,900 11,151 8,445 2,516 2,612 280.6 220.6 272.3 212.8 Mississippi ...... (D) (D) 5,706 5,729 2,114 2,114 120.6 121.1 (D) (D) Missouri ...... 7,854 7,558 12,845 12,725 2,436 2,491 312.9 317.0 278.2 280.5 Nebraska ...... 8,211 7,871 8,491 8,477 2,527 2,496 214.6 211.6 209.4 199.4 New York ...... 4,959 5,065 5,506 5,616 2,621 2,591 144.3 145.5 (D) (D) North Carolina ...... 6,276 7,007 14,909 15,746 2,132 2,136 317.9 336.4 157.8 175.8 Ohio ...... 36,177 34,683 37,376 35,895 2,547 2,485 951.8 892.1 (D) (D) Oklahoma ...... (D) (D) 3,069 2,889 1,952 1,983 59.9 57.3 (D) (D) Oregon ...... 2,184 2,108 2,377 2,279 2,541 2,554 60.4 58.2 60.4 58.2 Pennsylvania ...... 27,131 28,356 29,651 30,945 2,454 2,544 727.5 787.2 697.6 756.1 South Carolina ...... 2,972 2,575 4,259 3,909 2,343 2,228 99.8 87.1 77.1 63.6 South Dakota ...... 2,795 2,687 2,850 2,742 2,488 2,702 70.9 74.1 70.9 74.1 Texas ...... (D) (D) 22,574 22,978 2,332 2,276 526.4 523.0 (D) (D) Utah ...... 4,777 4,390 4,829 4,442 2,618 2,591 126.4 115.1 126.4 115.1 Virginia ...... 922 767 2,774 2,583 2,199 2,218 61.0 57.3 30.5 25.8 Washington ...... 6,764 6,425 6,929 6,589 2,670 2,629 185.0 173.2 (D) (D) Wisconsin ...... 6,184 6,301 7,298 7,416 2,328 2,532 169.9 187.8 163.9 181.5

Other States1 ...... 26,874 25,710 32,979 31,741 2,402 2,412 792.2 765.5 715.0 689.0

United States 2 ...... 327,245 314,888 405,672 395,312 2,385 2,411 9,674.8 9,530.5 8,469.9 8,290.5 (D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual operations. 1 Includes data for States not published in this table. 2Data may not add to totals due to rounding. Data by type of flock not shown for some states to avoid disclosing individual operations, data included in United States totals. Wisconsin Farm Reporter 4

Milk Production Milk Cows and Production, Selected States, March 2020 and 2021 Milk production in Wisconsin during March 2021 totaled Milk cows 1 Milk per cow 2 Production2 Change 2.72 billion pounds, up 4% from the previous March. The aver- State age number of milk cows during March, at 1.27 million head, 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 from 2020 was up 3,000 from last month and 7,000 more than March (thousand head) (pounds) (million pounds) (percent) 2020. Monthly production per cow averaged 2,145 pounds, Arizona 200 196 2,285 2,260 457 443 -3.1 up 65 pounds from last March. California 1,722 1,720 2,135 2,170 3,676 3,732 1.5 Colorado 194 203 2,225 2,220 432 451 4.4 Milk production in the 24 major States during March totaled Florida 116 108 1,885 1,880 219 203 -7.3 18.8 billion pounds, up 2.0% from March 2020. February re- Georgia 82 80 1,990 2,000 163 160 -1.8 vised production, at 16.9 billion pounds, was down 1.1% from Idaho 647 652 2,135 2,135 1,381 1,392 0.8 February 2020. However, production was 2.5% above last year Illinois 82 83 1,940 1,950 159 162 1.9 Indiana 176 193 2,045 2,050 360 396 10.0 after adjusting for the leap year. The February revision repre- Iowa 219 224 2,110 2,115 462 474 2.6 sented an increase of 36 million pounds or 0.2% from last Kansas 171 175 2,050 2,070 351 362 3.1 month's preliminary production estimate. Michigan 428 442 2,335 2,340 999 1,034 3.5 Minnesota 445 462 1,910 1,980 850 915 7.6 Production per cow in the 24 major States averaged 2,104 New Mexico 332 333 2,195 2,165 729 721 -1.1 pounds for March, 19 pounds above March 2020. New York 626 626 2,110 2,120 1,321 1,327 0.5 Ohio 253 260 1,900 1,910 481 497 3.3 The number of milk cows on farms in the 24 major States was Oregon 127 125 1,780 1,790 226 224 -0.9 8.95 million head, 93,000 head more than March 2020, and Pennsylvania 485 475 1,870 1,880 907 893 -1.5 7,000 head more than February 2021. South Dakota 129 147 1,960 1,950 253 287 13.4 Texas 590 617 2,180 2,165 1,286 1,336 3.9 Milk production in the United States during the January - Utah 98 95 1,960 1,965 192 187 -2.6 March quarter totaled 56.7 billion pounds, up 1.0% from the Vermont 124 119 1,870 1,865 232 222 -4.3 January - March quarter last year. Virginia 75 74 1,830 1,815 137 134 -2.2 Washington 280 278 2,070 2,060 580 573 -1.2 The average number of milk cows in the United States during Wisconsin 1,260 1,267 2,080 2,145 2,621 2,718 3.7 the quarter was 9.46 million head, 29,000 head more than the 24-State Total 8,861 8,954 2,085 2,104 18,474 18,843 2.0 October - December quarter, and 80,000 head more than the 1Includes dry cows. Excludes heifers not yet fresh. 2Excludes milk sucked by same period last year. calves.

Billion Pounds Milk Production, Wisconsin, 2020-2021 2.8 2.7 2.6 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.1 2.0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2020 2021

The Wisconsin Farm Reporter has been made possible through the cooperative efforts of Media contact: Greg Bussler (800)789-9277 the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service USDA, NASS, Upper Midwest Region, (608)224-4848 and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Wisconsin Field office http://www.nass.usda.gov/wi/