Did you know June is National Dairy Month? You may remember the “Got Milk?” ad campaigns from recent years, but the dairy industry has been a big business for decades. Early immigrants brought cattle overseas from Europe to America, and dairy products were made at home. As industrialization and pasteurization came to the U.S. in the 1800s, dairy products became mass-produced. The Mehring milking machine, invented in the 1890s, specifically made milk production more efficient, and products like milk, butter, ice cream, and cheese became commercialized. Between WWI and WWII, dairy companies began touting their products as safe for consumption due to pasteurization. Advertisements were soon geared towards the safety of milk for children, and the American Diary Association was formed in 1940. At the time, milk was stored in glass bottles and home-delivered, but by the 1960s and 1970s, once paper and plastic containers became popular, home-delivery decreased. Still, many Americans have fond memories of the “milkman” days. Currently, the dairy industry earns billions of dollars, and is focused on the health benefits of its products, such as probiotics in yogurt and a lowered risk of diseases from consuming full-fat dairy. To celebrate National Dairy Month, we’re featuring our mercury, rackmount, and low-temperature chillers. Chillers are critical for milk production because cooling the milk quickly ensures better quality. Because milk is pasteurized (heated to kill bacteria), chillers must cool down the milk to preserve it and extend its storage life. For more information, check out our dairy chillers: https://bvthermal.com/dairies/ and read below for fun dairy facts courtesy of https://www.wisconsincheeseman.com/blog/cheese-nation/june-dairy-month-facts-dairy-foods/

• U.S. dairy farms produce roughly 21 billion gallons of milk annually.
• All 50 states in the U.S. have dairy farms.
• Dairy farmers are paid by the hundredweight (100 pounds), not by the gallon. There are approximately 8.6 pounds of milk per gallon.
• 99 percent of all U.S. households purchase milk. The average American consumes almost 25 gallons of milk each year.
• About 72 percent of the calcium in the U.S. food supply comes from dairy foods.
• To get the amount of calcium in an 8-ounce glass of milk, you’d have to eat seven oranges or six slices of wheat bread.
• Fresh milk will stay fresher longer if you add a pinch of salt to each quart.
• The natural yellow color of butter comes mainly from the beta-carotene found in the grass cows eat.
• Americans eat more than 300,000 tons of yogurt per year.
• About 300 varieties of cheese are sold in the United States.
• The most popular cheese in America is Cheddar.
• Vanilla is America’s favorite ice cream flavor.
• It takes about 50 licks to finish a single ice cream scoop.
• It takes 10 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese.
• It takes 12 pounds of whole milk to make one gallon of ice cream.
• It takes 21.8 pounds of milk to make one pound of butter.
• If Wisconsin were a country, it would rank fourth in the world in terms of total cheese production, behind the U.S., Germany and France, and just ahead of Italy.