American cheese makers fear too fatty milk

The American dairy farming industry has ramped up the fat percentage of cow's milk at record speed over the past 10 years, much more than the dairy farming industries in the EU and New Zealand have done. However, the rapidly growing American cheese sector is not happy about this, as the fat/protein ratio is becoming unbalanced, causing production problems. This is reported by the American cooperative CoBank in a report on this development. The ideal fat/protein ratio for Cheddar production is a ratio where the protein percentage is 80 to 83% of the fat percentage. However, in recent years this ratio has become increasingly skewed, with the protein percentage according to the bank now only 77% of the fat percentage. This is due to a successful breeding improvement program within the dominant Holstein breed in the US. As a result, the fat percentage in milk has increased by 13% in the last 10 years, while the protein percentage has only risen by 6%. Breeding for higher fat has also been rewarding. Currently, the average levels in the US are at 4.24% fat and 3.29% protein. Too soft cheese With such ratios, American cheese producers are finding it increasingly difficult to manage. Because of such ratios between fat and protein, there is a risk that the cheese will become too soft, the industry complains. Therefore, they must apply an extra processing step: either the incoming milk must be skimmed, or protein concentrate must be added. In both cases, this means that extra costs must be incurred, which affects margins. Different rewards A solution to this problem could be to adjust the payment for delivered milk, so that farmers will breed more cows with milk that is directly suitable for cheese. And there is potential for this. According to CoBank, American cheese sales have grown by about 15% in the last 10 years. However, for many farmers, breeding for a high fat content remains attractive, as consumption of (whole) yogurts and butter has also increased significantly. Compared to the Dutch standard levels in cow's milk - 4.42% fat and 3.58% protein - the American levels do not seem particularly high, but compared to the European average of 4.13% fat and 3.45% protein, they are not far off. Moreover, they have risen much more strongly than the European averages, and also more than the New Zealand averages. However, those have long been at record levels and now stand at 5.14% for fat and 4.02% for protein.