CHAPTER XIV

THE TRADE IN DAIRY PRODUCTS

PRODUCTION OF DAIRY PRODUCTS

The yearly output of dairy products consists primarily of milk which is marketed either as whole milk or in the form of cream, butter fat, butter, cheese, manufactured milk products, and various by-products such as buttermilk, whey and skim milk. A combined total value or quantity figure would involve many gross duplications, for whole milk is the basis from which the various milk products are obtained, and the latter are produced partly on the farms by dairymen and partly in factories.

The Census of 1919 reports a total value of $1,148,462,000 including only farm sales of milk, cream and butter fat and farm production of butter and cheese. It also reported an estimated yearly production of 7,805,000,000 gallons of milk. The Department of Agriculture has recently published estimates of the value of all dairy products produced on farms. ranging from $2,960,000,000 in 1919 to $2,090,000,000 in 1922.1 The Department estimates the total quantities of raw milk used for various purposes in 1921 as follows (Table XIII):

The production of milk is distributed widely over the central, western and eastern states, and substantial quantities are produced throughout the United States, especially in the vicinities of the larger cities where large quantities of market milk are required. This need for market milk is primarily responsible for the heavy output of milk throughout the eastern states, although much milk is also produced on eastern farms for manufacturing uses (see Map No. XIX).

Market milk is the largest single item. Most of the large

1 Includes milk sold and consumed on farms, butter made, cheese made, cream sold, butter fat sold, buttermilk, whey and skim milk.

quantities of milk produced in New England, southern New York and eastern Pennsylvania are sold for household purposes. The higher price paid for market milk has pushed back from the

Also made from powdered, condensed and evaporated milk.
Negligible amount of milk used.

large cities and industrial districts, the butter and cheese areas in these states, and the same dependence upon market milk obtains among the producers located near the large cities in northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, southern Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The production of milk for butter is more widely distributed, for butter is less perishable than market milk and is better suited to long distance transportation. Over thirty-six per cent of the milk output goes into the production of butter. Of the 1,628,200,000 pounds of butter produced in the United States in the Census Year 1919, 562 per cent were produced in creameries and 432 per cent on the farms. Dairy butter is

made on almost one-half of the farms of the United States and this in itself results in a comparatively wide distribution of milk, production for purposes of manufacturing butter. The tendency, however, is to produce more of the country's butter output in creameries. The creamery industry has become of vast importance in Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, California, Nebraska, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas and Missouri, but as is shown in Map No. XX, the industry is important în sections of many other states.

Cheese production is more specialized than the production of butter for although much cottage cheese is produced on farms only a small proportion of it reaches the local market and it is comparatively unimportant in the large cheese markets. Cheese is produced largely in factories, and the industry has developed most in Wisconsin and New York. As shown in Map No. XXI substantial quantities are also produced in California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon and Ohio.

The processed or canned milk industry has grown rapidly in recent years. The output of evaporated and condensed milk increased from 494,797,000 to 2,093,646,000 pounds during the census decade 1909 to 1919. This industry is also concentrated geographically, most of the condenseries being located in Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Washington, California, and Ohio. Other types of manufactured milk, consuming smaller quantities of milk, are powdered milk and cream, malted milk and canned sterilized milk.

Many milk producers find a substantial market in the industries producing ice-cream, milk chocolate, casein, and milk sugar. Ice-cream is an industry in all cities and many villages and further quantities are made in the home. Milk chocolate is produced chiefly in New York and Pennsylvania. Casein which is made from skim milk and butter-milk is produced principally in California, New York and Vermont; and milk sugar which is usually made from cheese and casein whey is produced in factories located in New York, Vermont, Ohio, California and Michigan.