Over the past year, US dairy exports were lifted by a surge in cheese and butter shipments, reaching record levels in every single regional market, the semi-annual report on US dairy exports from the US Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS). This rapid export expansion reflects the payoff from years of investment in new US processing capacity, alongside favourable conditions that is poised to deliver consecutive years of greater than 2% growth in fluid milk production. Together, these developments strengthened the price competitiveness of US cheese and butter relative to other major exporters, especially the European Union and New Zealand, which shifted to industrial higher-spec business-to-business products and away from retail consumers following Fonterra’s sale of its Mainland brand to Lactalis.  

About two‑thirds of the increase in US dairy export value over the past year came specifically from gains in butter (exports grew 148%) and cheese (21%) shipments, highlighting the outsized role these two products now play in export growth. 

Just as important is how the geography of these shipments has shifted. In 2025 and through the first five months of 2026, diversification has been the defining feature of US butter and cheese export growth strategy. Exporters expanded their presence beyond North American buyers and redistributed volumes more evenly across a broader set of destinations, including fast‑growing markets in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Europe.