Overview

Sales of dairy products, such as ice cream and yogurt, account for tens of billions of dollars annually in the United States. Another way producers can capture a part of that billion-dollar market is by processing and selling their own line of value-added dairy products manufactured at their farms.  November 2006 . . . Dairy Products

Marketing

• About Yogurt.com, National Yogurt Association - This nonprofit trade association represents manufacturers and marketers of live and active culture yogurt products.
• American Butter Institute - This trade association represents butter manufacturers. It offers butter and dairy outlook information.
• Dairy, Briefing Room, Economic Research Service, USDA.  
• Dairy Products Prices, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA.
• Dairy Yearbook, Economic Research Service, USDA - Annual data is compiled on milk and dairy product production, milk use, manufactured dairy products and prices.
• Trends in U.S. Per Capita Consumption of Dairy Products, 1909 to 2001, Amber Waves, 2003 - This data summary features information on fluid milk, cheese and ice cream consumption.
• U.S. Dairy Product Supplier Directory, U.S. Dairy Export Council - This interactive database lists U.S. suppliers of dairy products.

Processing/Manufacturing

• Butter Basics - This page contains background information on butter production, composition and standards.
• Dairy Management Inc. - This site contains dairy product, ingredient and nutrition information.
• The Dairy 100, Dairy Foods magazine - Dairy Foods compiled a list of the top dairy processors based on sales figures. It is on the left side of the screen. You will have to sign in to access the information. 
• Dairy Product Manufacturing Procedures, Methods, Recipes, Cheese Reporter - This page lists technical references available for purchase on cheese, ice cream, yogurt and related dairy products through the Cheese Reporter.
• Dairy Short Courses & Symposiums, Dairy Products Technology Center, California Polytechnic State University - A variety of short courses ranging from frozen dairy desserts to farmstead cheesemaking are offered throughout the year. For course listings, select the Outreach & Continuing Education button.  
• Fankhauser’s Cheese Page, University of Cincinnati Clermont College - Biology and chemistry professor David Fankhauser offers an online cheesemaking lesson.
• Fermenting Yogurt at Home, National Center for Home Food Preservation, University of Georgia.  
• General Specifications for Dairy Plants Approved for USDA Inspection and Grading Service, Ag Marketing Service, 2002.
• Ice Cream, University of Guelph - This Web site offers information on ice cream formulations, ingredients and shelf life.
• The Ice Cream Short Course, Penn State University - This seven-day university short course, the oldest of its kind, covers everything from ingredients to equipment and freezing.
• Milk for Manufacturing Purposes and its Production and Processing, Ag Marketing Service, 2002.
• National Ice Cream and Yogurt Retailers Association - This association serves retailers in the ice cream, yogurt and frozen dessert business. Members receive monthly information on business related topics such as industry trends, labeling information and tax tips.
• Quality Standards – Dairy Products, Ag Marketing Service, USDA.  
• Smalldairy.com - Small Dairy provides information resources regarding on-farm and artisan processing to assist those interested in dairy processing.
• Value-Added Dairy Options, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), 2001 - This document contains questions dairy producers need to consider before getting involved in on-farm processing and marketing.
• Value-Added Dairy Processing Feasibility Report "A Catalyst for Thought," Kansas Department of Commerce, 2003 - Included in this study are an overview of the dairy industry in Kansas, the current trends and the entire process of dairy processing. Fundamental issues of Federal Milk Marketing Orders, seasonality of production and demand are also addressed.
  • Cheese Break-out of Dairy Processing Report
  • Fluid Milk Break-out of Dairy Processing Report
  • Ice Cream Break-out of Dairy Processing Report
  • Nonfat Dry Milk Break-out of Dairy Processing Report
  • Organic Milk Break-out of Dairy Processing Report
• Whey, Once a Marginal Byproduct, Amber Waves, ERS, USDA, April 2008.
• Yogurt, University of Guelph - This Web site offers information on yogurt formulations and ingredients.
• Yogurt Making Illustrated, University of Cincinnati Clermont College - Biology and chemistry professor David Frankhauser offers a yogurt-making lesson online.

Production

• The Small Dairy Resource Book, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, USDA, 2000 - Information sources for farmstead producers and processors.

Businesses/Case Studies

• Brown Cow Farm - Based in Northern California, this farm offers a variety of natural yogurts mixed in small batches that come in cream top, low fat or nonfat. They do not contain artificial ingredients. In 2003, the company joined the East Coast-based Stonyfield Farm. 
• Cheese, Por Favor, Cooperative Partners magazine, Land O'Lakes, Inc., 2007 - Using milk from their herd of Jerseys, the Coelho family of Woodburn, Oregon, prepares speciality cheese for the expanding Hispanic market. Their new on-farm cheese processing plant converts 4 percent of their herd's milk into cheese, which represents about 18 percent of the farm's total gross income.         
• Meadowsweet Farm - Milk from the organically fed Jerseys on this western New York State farm is processed into yogurt, kefir and cheese.
• Neighborly Farms, Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University - In the hills of Randolph Center, Vermont, Neighborly Farms has established an organic dairy and cheese-processing facility on the farm. Through one side of the viewing room, visitors can watch the 48 black and white Holsteins cows being milked or turn to the other side of the room and see cheese being made.
• Returns to Investment in Whey Protein Research, Agricultural Issues Center, University of California, 2002 - Researchers at the University of California, Davis have developed new uses for whey protein. A model of the U.S. dairy industry traces the likely effects on the markets for milk and dairy products from commercial adoption of these new uses.

Links checked February 2008.