Butter consumption is up! It looks like Keto eating is one reason!

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Weedygarden

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Admins, if there is a better section for this, please move it. I don't think I have it in the correct section.

Butter is up there, close to bacon, in my opinion! Margarine is losing ground. This article is almost a year old, but the news is that we are continuing to consume more butter. It may not be due to only Keto eating, but Keto has to be having an impact.

http://www.wisconsinagriculturist.com/dairy/us-butter-consumption-nears-50-year-record-high

U.S. butter consumption nears 50-year record high
Dairy Outlook: Butter consumption is forecast to jump 8% in 2017.
Fran O'Leary | Mar 27, 2017

Butter consumption in the U.S. is forecast to jump 8% this year, due in part to new products like butter coffee and brown butter cocktails. The butter craze includes restaurants like McDonald's switching from margarine to butter and serving it on the all-day breakfast menu on everything from Hotcakes to its signature Egg McMuffins. According to Bloomberg News, Cracker Barrel restaurants are also promoting breakfast dishes made with real butter.

As a result, butter consumption in the U.S. is nearing a 50-year record high. Increasing consumption is also pushing butter prices higher.

According to Bob Cropp, a University of Wisconsin Extension dairy economist, wholesale butter prices were well above $2 per pound during March. The butter price ranged from $2.11 to $2.23 and is now $2.13.

"Dairy product prices declined during March with the exception of butter and dry whey," Cropp explains. And this is in spite of higher butter stocks. Butter stocks in 2017 have been 16.1% higher than in 2016 and 49.8% higher than in 2015. However, butter exports were 26% lower in January than they were the year before, Cropp says.

Milk production is 2.5% higher than a year ago, according to Cropp. Milk production has dropped 2% from a year ago in California but has increased 11.6% in New Mexico, 16.4% in Texas, 3.8% in New York, 4.8% in Michigan, 2.9% in Minnesota, 4.6% in Iowa, 1.3% in Wisconsin and 4.6% in South Dakota.

Butter consumption in the U.S. is forecast to jump 8% this year, due in part to new products like butter coffee and brown butter cocktails. The butter craze includes restaurants like McDonald's switching from margarine to butter and serving it on the all-day breakfast menu on everything from Hotcakes to its signature Egg McMuffins. According to Bloomberg News, Cracker Barrel restaurants are also promoting breakfast dishes made with real butter.

As a result, butter consumption in the U.S. is nearing a 50-year record high. Increasing consumption is also pushing butter prices higher.

According to Bob Cropp, a University of Wisconsin Extension dairy economist, wholesale butter prices were well above $2 per pound during March. The butter price ranged from $2.11 to $2.23 and is now $2.13.

"Dairy product prices declined during March with the exception of butter and dry whey," Cropp explains. And this is in spite of higher butter stocks. Butter stocks in 2017 have been 16.1% higher than in 2016 and 49.8% higher than in 2015. However, butter exports were 26% lower in January than they were the year before, Cropp says.

More milk
Milk production is 2.5% higher than a year ago, according to Cropp. Milk production has dropped 2% from a year ago in California but has increased 11.6% in New Mexico, 16.4% in Texas, 3.8% in New York, 4.8% in Michigan, 2.9% in Minnesota, 4.6% in Iowa, 1.3% in Wisconsin and 4.6% in South Dakota.

"The relative strong production increases in New York, Michigan and even New Mexico are making it difficult to find enough plant capacity to handle all of the milk," Cropp says. "Some milk has been dumped or, in the case of New Mexico, fed to calves."

The USDA in its monthly supply-demand estimates released in March increased its 2017 milk production forecast, while its dairy product and milk price forecasts were mixed. The 2017 milk production forecast was raised by 100 million pounds from February's forecast to 17.5 billion pounds as cow numbers are expected to increase more rapidly. However, growth in milk per cow is reduced on January data.

The cheese price forecast for 2017 is reduced as stocks of cheese are high and are expected to pressure prices. USDA now expects cheese prices to average between $1.64 and $1.70 per pound this year — down from the previous month's forecast of $1.66 to $1.73 per pound, but still above the 2016 average of $1.60.

USDA's butter price forecast average is raised to $2.12 to $2.21 per pound, up from February's forecast of $2.04 to $2.14 per pound and also up from last year's average of 42.07 per pound.

According to Cropp, milk production will increase during the spring flush and likely will push milk prices lower.

"We can expect the Class III price to be in the low $15s for the months of April and May," he notes. "But with continued favorable butter and cheese sales, along with continued improvement of dairy exports, milk prices should trend back upward after that."

Cropp believes the Class III price could be back to the $16s by June and reaching into the high $17s by the fourth quarter. Currently, dairy futures are not that optimistic. Class III futures don’t reach the $16s until July and stay well below the $17s for the remainder of the year.
 
I only use land of lakes unsalted butter at home, no other commercial product compares, emphasis on the word commercial. A few years ago, I had a friend that passed away suddenly (sadly). He also took a secret to his grave. Once or twice a year he could get his hands on a few pounds of unpasteurized, hand churned butter. He never told me where he was getting it.

The flavor of this butter was so far above land of lakes I can’t even begin to describe it. It was incredible. If there is a milk cow in your future… by all means! I wish I was in a position to get one.

It's a bummer the price of cheese might be going up. Quality block cheese is already out of my budget but I splurge occasionally. :(
 
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Butter prices are also up because keto eaters generally demand butter from grass fed cows that are not injected with tons of chemicals. We buy Kerry Gold butter and it is much more expensive than store or most name brands, but it also tastes 10x better and I would submit much healthier.
 
Butter prices are also up because keto eaters generally demand butter from grass fed cows that are not injected with tons of chemicals. We buy Kerry Gold butter and it is much more expensive than store or most name brands, but it also tastes 10x better and I would submit much healthier.
I buy Kerry Gold as well, but it is not easy to find. I find it at Natural Grocers, formerly known as the Vitamin Cottage.
 
I only use land of lakes unsalted butter at home, no other commercial product compares, emphasis on the word commercial.

That's what I get, too. I hope, in a few years, that we'll have some nigerian dwarfs and be able to make butter at home from goats' milk, but until then...

We're eating more butter now than we did years ago, but only because I switched us completely away from margarine, not because of Keto. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that margarine is a health nightmare.
 
As a massive butter consumer I have learned you can tell by taste (obviously) and color how good butter is going to be. Our local store brand butter is nearly white, while Kerry Gold is a very vibrant yellow. We have tried other butters where the color seemed off and they weren't very good. The freezer of our second refrigerator is sole devoted to butter so we can but it up when it is one sale.
 
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I grew up making real butter in a paddle butter churn. It is a little time consuming, but so worth it. It's hard to find a dairy anymore that can see cream to the public because of regulations r/t different diseases in cattle (probably hogwash, really $$). I finally did find a couple dairies within a couple hours drive.
I make it in my Ninja. It can be used to make the butter and rinse it, too, in just a matter of min. I can hardly stand the taste of "oleo" as my mom called it.
 
We never use margarine. Now and then buy organic butter but usually buy LOL or Publix brand, never generic from WalMart or Winn Dixie.
 
Butter was always a fun thing to make with children. I liked it as an activity for a fall festival (as opposed to having a Halloween party). Pour cream into a jar, put the lid on tight, show them how to hold and shake the jar, and let them each count to 10 or 20 while they shake it, then pass it on. By the time every one has a turn, it is butter. Washing it and getting it ready to eat takes longer.
 

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