Product pull puts butterfat near a record
At 3.95%, the butterfat content in last year’s milk supply has pushed historic highs in USDA data tracing back to 1924. That 3.95% is just 0.03% away from the all-time record of 3.98% posted during the height of World War II in 1944 and 1945.
Of course, the dairy product pull looks much different than a decade ago. Full-fat dairy products are now a leading category when it comes to the dairy case and restaurant tables. As a result, butterfat levels climbed from 3.66% in 2010 to the 3.95% mark posted last year.
Butterfat had been lagging for decades. So much so that from 1966 to 2010, butterfat content in milk from the nation’s dairy farms hovered in a tight window from 3.66% to 3.69% during that 44-year stretch.