FRANCE — France has temporarily relaxed production rules for several traditional cheeses after drought and record heat left pastures across the country too dry to provide enough feed for dairy cattle.
The government announced special measures Wednesday for producers of abondance, beaufort and comte, allowing them to supplement cows’ diets with additional fodder and grain brought in from other areas.
The cheeses, which producers make from raw cow’s milk in the Alps and Jura mountains, carry Protected Designation of Origin labels that require producers to follow strict rules on where cattle graze and what they eat.
Drought affected 95% of mainland France in July, leaving many normally productive pastures dry.
The Agriculture Ministry’s statistical service reported that growth on permanent grasslands as of Aug. 10 stood at about one-third below the 1989-2018 average. The ministry earlier this month described fodder conditions as “highly degraded” across almost all regions.
The National Institute of Origin and Quality, which oversees France’s rules on protected food origins, also announced temporary exemptions for producers of several other cheeses, including reblochon, cantal, bleu d’Auvergne and fourme d’Ambert.
France has experienced extreme heat and drought as Europe records another summer of high temperatures. The conditions have contributed to wildfires, reduced river levels and agricultural losses.
French farmers expect the country’s smallest corn harvest since 1980, while winegrowers have reported some of the earliest harvests on record.
Scientists have linked the worsening drought to human-caused climate change, saying extreme heat has played a larger role than reduced rainfall in drying the land.