France has temporarily relaxed centuries‑old rules for some of its best‑known protected cheeses after drought scorched pastures and left farmers struggling to feed their herds, issuing emergency waivers that let AOP producers loosen strict requirements on grazing, feed and sourcing to keep dairy production going.
But not every cheesemaker is willing to compromise. Around 70 per cent of Salers producers have stopped making the cheese over the summer rather than alter a recipe that has been unchanged for more than 2,000 years.
Grass Requirement Cut to 15% The emergency measures affect several cheeses protected by France’s appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) system, which ties their identity to a particular region, production method and diet.
Abondance producers can now reduce the required share of pastured grass in their cows’ diets from 50 per cent to 15 per cent. They can also bring in forage from outside the designated production area.
Comté makers have been allowed to import maize from beyond their geographical boundary after local supplies were damaged by drought. Temporary changes have also been made to grazing requirements.
Beaufort has received waivers covering production and grazing rules as Alpine pastures struggle with the heat. Cantal, Reblochon, Bleu d’Auvergne, Fourme d’Ambert and Rocamadour are among the other cheeses expected to receive, or already granted, similar dispensations.
Roquefort producers, meanwhile, have separately called for traditional grazing rules to be eased after their sheep pastures were scorched.
Salers Cheesemakers Halt Production Salers has proved the hardest case. Its AOP rules require at least 75 per cent of a cow’s diet to come from local, seasonal grass. Production is also restricted to the period from mid‑April to mid‑November, when herds are actively grazing.
This summer, the drought led local farmers to say there was no more grass left to eat.
Even the 50 per cent grass threshold that has occasionally been allowed during previous droughts was impossible to meet.
The president of the Salers cheesemakers’ group said replacing fresh pasture with hay would make the cheese’s paste whiter and strip away its distinctive flavours. For many producers, that was a line they would not cross.
About 70 per cent therefore paused production, with some sending their milk towards Cantal instead. The cheese is similar to Salers but is less tightly regulated and less valuable.
Terroir Under Pressure Research from INRAE and VetAgro Sup in the Massif Central acknowledges the cheesemakers’ concerns.
The more grazed grass cows eat, the richer their milk and cheese become in omega‑3 fatty acids. The resulting cheese is also smoother, yellower and more aromatic.
Corn silage, by contrast, can affect quality when drought forces farmers to rely on it. Traditional hay offers a better option, allowing farmers to cope with dry conditions without substantially changing the finished cheese.
AOP and PDO protections are designed to preserve terroir, the idea that a food’s character comes from the land where it is produced. The rules help sustain thousands of small family farms, rural jobs in mountainous regions and agricultural land that could otherwise be abandoned.
France now faces the question of how to preserve those traditions as climate change makes severe droughts more frequent across Europe.