If butterfat levels were tracked using a grade point average (GPA), the U.S. dairy industry would earn its very first 4.0-plus butterfat grade point rating in 2024. Just a few short years ago, most people in the industry would not have thought this possible as annual butterfat levels had never topped 4% in any given year based on USDA data dating back to 1924.

That all changed in 2021 when the yearly average crossed the 4% threshold for the first time in recorded history. The butterfat content in milk has kept growing ever since, moving to a 4.06% yearly average in 2022 and 4.15% in 2023.

Some monthly totals remained below 4%

While 2022 and 2023 annual butterfat averages climbed well above the 4% threshold, butterfat content in milk typically swoons during the spring flush and later again in the summer heat. As a result, butterfat content in milk remained below the elusive 4% threshold for three months in 2022 — June, July, and August. The very next year, meeting the 4% threshold for a full calendar year nearly became possible. However, USDA data showed that butterfat content fell a smidge short of 4% with July 2023 milk notching a 3.99% butterfat.

With butterfat levels continuing to move higher this year, the last remaining monthly holdout was scrubbed from the list as July 2024 posted a 4.07% butterfat content in the national bulk tank. That was nearly a full tenth higher (0.08%) than the previous July. While 2024 isn’t in the books just yet, the seasonal patterns in butterfat production indicate that the 4.07% for July milk should be the lowest of the year, as shown in the graph. That would make every month above 4% butterfat for the first time in recorded U.S. dairy history.

The butterfat boom continues

Butterfat was a rather boring story not that long ago. From 1966 to 2010, the butterfat content in the U.S. milk supply hovered in a very narrow range from 3.65% to 3.69%.

Then consumer demand for full-fat dairy products began to grow.

From 2011 to the present day, butterfat content climbed from 3.70% to 4.15% on annual basis, with new records posted each of the past three years. When 2024 enters the books, it will be the fourth consecutive record year. To learn more, read “The butterfat boom has just begun.”