California’s happy cows can’t keep pace

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Wisconsin will not lose its title as America’s top cheese maker any time soon.

Dick Groves of Madison’s Cheese Reporter said California’s “happy cows” were getting close. But Wisconsin’s production pulled away this spring, while the output in the Golden State is maxing out.

That’s partly because California closed two of its major cheese factories last year, while two new ones opened in the Badger State.

The U.S. makes almost 10 billion pounds of cheese each year, and Wisconsin and California produce about half of it.

Last July, California got to within 6 million pounds of Wisconsin in their monthly output. But the gap grew once again, and Wisconsin made 30 million more pounds than California in March.

Groves first wrote 10 years ago that the Golden State would overtake Wisconsin in cheese production by 2005.

Later, he changed that to 2010. A few weeks ago, he said it would not happen “any time soon.”

California has 61 cheese plants to Wisconsin’s 124. The Golden State has larger facilities. But officials say California’s plants are virtually running at their full capacity while the Badger State’s plants have room to grow, and farmers are now making more milk for them.

Also, the bureaucracy is tougher to deal with in California where it can take four to six years to get the necessary permits for a new cheese plant.

Tags: wisconsinnews, cheesemaking, cali ornia, happycows