America’s Dairlyand extends cheese lead over California

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California may have happy cows, but more consumers prefer their cheese from Wisconsin cows.

The Badger State traditionally leads the country in cheese production and the gap over No. 2 California has widened for most of the year.

In August, Wisconsin’s total cheese output rose 1.6 percent from a year ago, while California made 9.3 percent less.

American cheese is growing the fastest in Wisconsin, as production grew almost 6 percent in August.

The Badger State also made more cheddar and Italian cheeses, while the output for all three dropped in California.

American cheese dropped almost 20 percent in the state.

Wisconsin produced 206 million pounds of cheese in August. California made 173 million.

The national output was 821 million pounds, 3 percent more than the previous year.

Tags: wisconsin news, cheese, production