Our Dairy Cows Are Making a Heck of a Lot More Fat

American dairy cows have quietly become butterfat overachievers—and that's now a bit of a problem, reports Sarah Zhang for the Atlantic. Thanks to intentional breeding (bulls are selected for their superior milk-fat yields) and meticulously engineered feed, the average cow's annual fat output has jumped from about 670 pounds in 2000 to 1,025 pounds today, pushing milk-fat levels to record highs. Farmers had an incentive to do so: They are paid based on solid-component weight (largely fat and protein), not liquid volume. But as Zhang argues, "Dairy science has arguably made our cows too good too fast at fatmaxxing."

Butter prices sank last fall due to what one economist calls a "tsunami" of butterfat, due both to the record-rich milk and the near-record numbers of dairy cows being farmed in the US. Cheaper butter is good for consumers; not so much for farmers. All that butterfat doesn't change the milk we drink. Instead, the excess is removed and turned into things like cream and cheese. But it's causing headaches for some cheesemakers, who have been forced to retool plants or buy pricey separators because today's milk is too rich for varieties like cheddar; other big processors are struggling to absorb all the leftover fat. Read Zhang's piece in full, which explains why "genetically, the American cow is locked in."