Total cheese production for the state was 2.61 billion pounds, up from 2.59 billion pounds the previous year, according the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Wisconsin’s production led California, which produced 2.2 billion pounds. The state has been the U.S.’s leading cheese producer since the USDA began tracking the statistics in 1975.

While Wisconsin leading the nation in cheese production is kind of a dog-bites-man level of news, the shape of that production continues to evolve.

Specialty cheese production rose 10 percent in the state, with those category of cheeses accounting for 21 percent (552 million pounds) of the state’s production.

“You’re really seeing the category take shape with some new players,” said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. “You’re seeing it’s an attractive industry for investment and that’s a different story than it was 20 years ago.”

Specialty cheeses are value-added products that command a higher price. They include blue, feta, Hispanic types, specialty mozzarella and provolone and Parmesan Wheel were the state’s most widely produced specialty cheeses.

Umhoefer said recent business moves bear out the increased interest in specialty cheese. Last year, Agropur, Canada’s largest dairy cooperative, completed its acquisition of Little Chute-based Trega foods. Earlier this year, Saputo, a Montreal-based cheese manufacturer with three Wisconsin plants, announced plans to acquire DCI Cheese Co. of Richfield, Wis. DCI is a major specialty cheese marketer in the U.S.