November 12,2014 –
Three counties in California make nearly 77 percent of all the cheese manufactured in the state. The three are Tulare,Kings and Merced counties says CDFA. They are home not just to the greatest number of dairies but huge cheese plants.
In the latest CDFA report on milk production statewide volume is up 3% over last year. Number one Tulare County was up 2.8% in September and Kings County was up 5.6%. Merced was up 4%.
Just because milk production is up in California, consumers continue to drink less as fluid milk but are eating more of it as cheese and whey.
For January through September there was 3.4% less fluid milk sold than the same period a year earlier, a multi year trend.But organic milk is took less of a hit with sales from October 2013 through September 2014 up 2.6%.
If fluid milk sales are down (consumed exclusively in the domestic market) making cheese in the state is way up year over year fueled by booming exports. Cheddar is up 9.3%,Mozzarella up 7.8%,Hispanic cheese up 8.6% and whey powder ‘whey up’ 14.7% year to date.
CDFA says farmers got an average of $23.59 per hundredweight for their milk in September 2014 compared to $18.70 in September 2013. Margins are good with the higher sales price coupled with lower feed cost( corn) this year compared to last.