Traditional US cheese state Wisconsin has topped the tables for cheese production in the US, pipping California to the post by .4 billion pounds, according to the latest statistics from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Total state production was 2.61 billion pounds, which was an increase from 2.59 billion pounds produced in 2009. Meanwhile, California produced 2.2 billion pounds. Wisconsin has long been the leader, but speciality cheeses such as feta, Hispanic types and blue now account for 21% of the state’s production, rising by 10% in the last year. Meanwhile, speciality cheddars have increased 22% from 2009. Other prime US cheese producing states are Idaho, with 850m pounds produced in 2010, and New York, with 743m pounds.