As the Washington Post reports, US dairy producers now have a whopping 1.39 billion-pound surplus of cheese. That’s the largest domestic reserve of cheddar, Swiss, American, and other cheese varieties on record. There’s enough excess cheese to arm each American citizen with a hefty 4.6 pounds of the crumbly, melty, salty good stuff.
You might ask yourself: Why the massive cheese stockpile? There’s a larger story here: US dairy producers have been overproducing milk. When there’s a milk surplus, it gets turned into cheese, which can be stored for longer periods before spoiling. The Post notes milk and cheese surpluses tend to peak during the summer months, when dairy demand is down. Additionally, cows — which are more efficient milk producers than ever before, thanks to selective breeding — generate the most milk in the springtime.
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