For generations, the conversion rate for farm gate milk to cheese remained the same — 100 pounds of milk yielded roughly 10 pounds of cheese. That story stayed the same for six decades from the 1950s through the 2000s. That’s because butterfat in the nation’s milk supply held in a rather tight window of 3.65% to 3.69% during that 60-year span. During this period, protein levels also held rather constant at 3% in the national milk supply.

Everything started to change in 2010 as butterfat and protein levels in milk began to improve with every passing year. Those two milk components are the main drivers in cheese yield.

In the past 15 years, butterfat levels climbed from 3.66% to 4.23%. While protein stood at 3.05% in 2010, it has since climbed to reach 3.29% in 2024.

So, how much cheese do we get from farm gate milk these days?

The short answer is that 100 pounds of milk now yields 11.41 pounds of cheese. That’s up a whopping 12.5% when compared to the 2010 cheese yield of 10.14 pounds. In the past year alone, cheese yields improved by 1.5%, moving from 11.24 pounds in 2023 to 11.41 pounds in 2024.

Processing perfection

To be fair, the 11.41 pounds of cheese from 100 pounds of milk represents processing perfection. Our CoBank team shared this cheese yield story on the main stage at the recent International Dairy Foods Association’s Dairy Forum. In candid comments with our teammates, some cheese processors thought that the 11.41 pounds figure was too high, others suggested it was too low, and like the Goldilocks fable, some attendees thought the new cheese yield metric was just right.

For those who thought the number was too high, suggesting that it wasn’t possible to get 11.41 pounds of cheese from 100 pounds of milk at the average 4.23% butterfat and 3.29% protein, the discussion focused on lost solids. When processing milk through a cheese plant, it’s not possible to capture all the milk solids. However, there are techniques that can be employed to do a far better job.

One dairy processor shared that there is a big opportunity to better capture milk solids, namely butterfat and protein. At one of their plants, that dairy processor implemented measures to capture more solids throughout the processing system by making several collective changes. Not only did those steps improve cheese yields, but they also ultimately required two fewer semi loads of milk each day to make the same amount of cheese. That was one recent success story.

After listening to our discussion on cheese yields, another dairy processor shared that 100 pounds of milk coming into their plant yielded 12 pounds of cheese last year. That dairy processing executive noted they had already implemented steps to improve processing efficiency in their plants. He also shared that farm gate milk in their region had higher butterfat and protein levels than the national average.

Some in cheesemaking circles will point out they really don’t need any more butterfat to make cheese but could use more protein in the milk. Others among those processors sharing that perspective should consider putting a separator in their manufacturing plants. This equipment can separate a portion of the milkfat from the milk, essentially standardizing milk at a near constant butterfat level to make a specific cheese variety. The extra butterfat above and beyond what is needed for cheese manufacturing can be sold to make butter, sour cream, ice cream, coffee creamers, or other full-fat dairy products.

By using a separator and other processing optimization techniques now being implemented in cheese plants, the milk can be just right, as Goldilocks would point out.