U.S. cheese production totaled 1.245 billion pounds in August 2026, equivalent to about 1.25 billion pounds when rounded, according to the latest Dairy Products report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

That was 1.4 percent higher than August 2025, when production totaled 1.228 billion pounds. Output was also 1.4 percent lower than July 2026, when U.S. producers made 1.263 billion pounds of cheese. USDA’s total cheese measure excludes cottage cheese.

The August figures, released on October 5, provide the latest monthly measure of U.S. cheese production available from NASS. They show that overall production remained above its year-earlier level even as the two largest cheese categories moved in different directions.

Production of Italian type cheese reached 541.3 million pounds in August, up 3.7 percent from 522.1 million pounds a year earlier. Compared with July 2026, however, production declined 1.7 percent.

Mozzarella, by far the largest component of the Italian category, accounted for 420.9 million pounds of production. That represented a 1.8 percent increase from August 2025 but a 2.8 percent decline from July.

Parmesan production recorded a considerably larger year-over-year increase, rising 25.9 percent to 52.8 million pounds. Provolone production increased 5.3 percent to 34.4 million pounds. Ricotta production was nearly unchanged from a year earlier at 20.5 million pounds, while Romano production fell 25.2 percent to 3.6 million pounds.

Across the first eight months of 2026, Italian type cheese production totaled 4.34 billion pounds, up 4.2 percent from the corresponding period of 2025. Mozzarella production totaled 3.38 billion pounds over the same period, an increase of 2.3 percent.

American type cheese moved in the opposite direction. Production totaled 477.0 million pounds in August, down 0.9 percent from August 2025 and 0.6 percent from July 2026.

USDA’s American type category includes Cheddar, Colby, washed curd, stirred curd, Monterey and Jack cheeses. Cheddar accounted for 325.9 million pounds of August production, down 0.9 percent from both a year earlier and the previous month.

The remaining American types totaled 151.2 million pounds, down 0.8 percent from August 2025 and essentially unchanged from July.

The difference between the Italian and American categories was also evident in the year-to-date figures. Through August, American type cheese production totaled 3.87 billion pounds, 0.1 percent below the same period in 2025. Italian type production, meanwhile, was 4.2 percent higher.

Across all cheese categories covered by USDA’s total, U.S. producers made 9.999 billion pounds during the first eight months of 2026, compared with 9.773 billion pounds during the same period of 2025. That represented a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase.

Monthly production has remained above its comparable 2025 level throughout the first eight months of the year. The largest year-over-year increase came in January, when production rose 4.5 percent. The pace subsequently moderated, with August production 1.4 percent above its year-earlier level.

The monthly comparison tells a different story. August production was about 17.9 million pounds lower than July, reflecting declines in both Italian type and American type cheese output as well as several smaller categories.

These comparisons measure physical production volumes. They should not be interpreted as measures of cheese sales, shipments, retail demand or consumption. Those indicators describe different parts of the dairy market and are not directly interchangeable with USDA’s production figures.

The national increase also masked notable regional differences.

Cheese production in USDA’s Central region totaled 652.7 million pounds, up 5.8 percent from August 2025. The Atlantic region produced 142.7 million pounds, an increase of 0.6 percent. Production in the West fell 4.2 percent to 450.0 million pounds.

Among states for which USDA separately published totals, Wisconsin produced 303.1 million pounds of cheese in August, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier. California produced 197.0 million pounds, down 6.6 percent, while Idaho produced 85.6 million pounds, down 0.4 percent.

USDA does not separately publish every state’s figure. States may be included in the combined “Other States” category when fewer than three plants report or when publishing a state total could reveal information about individual operations. For that reason, the individually disclosed state figures should not be treated as a complete state ranking.

The regional split was particularly visible within Italian type cheese. Central-region production rose 12.6 percent from a year earlier to 260.4 million pounds, while Western production declined 5.5 percent to 220.5 million pounds. Atlantic production increased 4.9 percent to 60.4 million pounds.

The figures come from NASS’s monthly Dairy Products program, which measures production of cheese, butter and other manufactured dairy products.

USDA collects production information from dairy-product manufacturers after the close of each month. NASS describes the Dairy Products survey as a census of all known U.S. dairy-product manufacturers. Large producers and a sample of smaller firms are contacted monthly, while production for smaller firms not contacted every month is estimated using available data and state and national trends.

Reported figures are reviewed for consistency with earlier months, information from other firms and broader state, regional and national trends before state estimates are combined into national totals. According to NASS, 1,184 manufacturers produced one or more dairy products in 2025, the latest manufacturer count cited in the report’s methodology.

Monthly estimates can be revised in the following month as additional plant information becomes available. USDA also publishes an annual Dairy Products summary that incorporates revisions to prior estimates.

For August 2026, the resulting data show a U.S. cheese industry producing slightly more than a year earlier, with growth in Italian type cheese offset in part by lower American type cheese production. At 1.245 billion pounds, August output kept cumulative 2026 production above the comparable level recorded during the first eight months of 2025.