Dairy Market Drivers: SNAP Program Driving Dairy Demand; an Update on U.S. Cheese Exports; and Inflation in a Minute!

Apr 17, 2026

The U.S. exported 129 million pounds of cheese in February - a new single-month record for U.S. cheese exports. And that was during the shortest month of the year! Shipments were up 30% from the prior February, with 30 million additional pounds of U.S. cheese exported.
Mexico is the biggest buyer of U.S. cheese, and February sales reached a record high there, too. Nearly 46 million pounds were purchased by our neighbor to the south.
Volume to Latin America (not including Mexico) topped 28 million pounds, 41% higher year-over-year. Most of that volume moved into Central America, with Guatemala receiving 6 million pounds. Another noteworthy customer, Japan, increased shipments in February by 67% to reach nearly 11 million pounds.
Competitive prices keep U.S. cheese moving overseas. In early April, U.S. cheese averaged $1.63 per pound. That compared to $1.86 per pound in Europe and $2.16 in New Zealand. With continued growth in U.S. milk production and cheese processing capacity, export demand is the main puzzle piece that keeps inventory from building and prices from slipping further.

Video: Stress as a Nutrient Thief - Dr. Sarah Pearce

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Sarah Pearce, Research Animal Physiologist with USDA ARS, explains why stress can act as a nutrient thief in pigs. She discusses gastrointestinal health, barrier integrity, inflammation, feed efficiency, stress interactions, and emerging biomarkers that may help predict performance challenges before they occur. Listen now on all major platforms!

Click here to read the full research article: https://academic.oup.com/af/article/1...

"Stress can steal calories and nutrients because energy normally used for growth is redirected toward immune activation, gut repair, and other costly survival responses."

Meet the guest: Dr. Sarah Pearce / sarah-pearce-phd-3a5881a5 earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences from Iowa State University and currently serves as a Research Animal Physiologist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service. Her research focuses on gastrointestinal physiology, nutrition, stress biology, immune function, and productivity in pigs and poultry. Learn more from Dr. Sarah Pearce on the Swine Nutrition Black Belt Podcast, available on all major platforms.