A historic heat wave has exposed French dairy cows, which normally graze outdoors in summer, to heat-related stress.
A prolonged drought has scorched France’s meadows, stripping them of their usual lush green vitality and leaving behind dry, lifeless yellow fields.
And French farmers, bound by strict cheese-making regulations, must purchase additional feed to supplement their animals’ diets.
Some of France’s most beloved artisanal cheeses are under threat from climate change, scientists and cheesemakers have warned.
“Before, we would have pasture problems every 15 to 20 years,” says Laurent Ruhr, a dairy farmer and cheese maker for 35 years. “Now it’s almost every other year. And it’s getting worse.”
result? Dairy cow production is decreasing and the number of calves they produce is decreasing or becoming weaker. Farmers who produce much of the country’s finest cheese have been forced to cease production. And the unique flavor of French “terroir” cheeses is at risk.
“We’ve had five heat waves so far this year. We’ve never experienced temperatures like this before,” Laws said.
In fact, July set new records in France, becoming the hottest month since records began in 1900 and the third driest month on record, according to France’s National Weather Service.
This summer, more than three-quarters of France’s 80 producers of salers cheese (a semi-hard raw cow’s milk cheese) ceased production due to a series of heatwaves and resulting drought.
Salers is one of 47 French cheeses to carry the red and yellow AOP label, Appellation d’Origine Protégé (Protected Designation of Origin). This label is a certificate that guarantees that all stages of the final product, from milk production to ripening, took place within a limited geographical area. Salers are produced primarily in the Cantal department of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, where cattle graze on volcanic mountains between 2,630 and 4,920 feet above sea level, carpeted with nutritious wildflowers.
While no two Saller’s cheeses are alike, the local terroir, a mix of climate, soil and topography that makes the area unique, creates a variety of flavors, from walnuts, hazelnuts and grass notes to fermented cream, peppery spices and smoked grilled onions.
It is also one of the cheeses most affected by climate change, as cheese production is subject to strict regulations. Salar cheese must be produced between April 15th and November 15th, using primarily grass-fed cattle. Supplements to their diet are limited to 25% dry matter, and allowed feed ingredients include hay, wheat, barley, oats, and corn from the same region.
This year’s drought forced Ruhr to stop producing Saler on July 8 and switch to making Cantal, a similar semi-hard cow’s milk cheese, but with looser rules. Unlike saler, cantal can be produced year-round and has a richer ratio of grass to grain, hay and corn. The main rule is that cows can graze for 120 days a year.
Last month, the National Institute of Origin and Quality (INAO), the government agency responsible for overseeing the AOP label, announced temporary changes for some cheese makers in response to France’s “historic drought” this summer.
Producers such as Beaufort, Comté and Abbondance are among the few cheese producers already authorized to increase the proportion of their cows’ feed to compensate for pasture shortages, or to source supplementary feed from outside their designated AOP zones. And the list of cheeses is expected to grow even further. Ruhr, who is also president of the Cantal Professionnel des Fromages du Cantal committee and represents local cheese manufacturers, said their group did not bother to request a temporary exemption from the Salers rule because less than 50% of the grass does not merit the “designation” of the Salers name.
Some AOP cheese producers have long asked INAO to permanently ease some of the regulations in response to the effects of anthropogenic climate change, such as adjusting grazing periods, increasing the amount of hay and supplementary feed that cattle can consume, and allowing farmers to source feed from outside the AOP region. This process is long and can take years to complete.
But will reducing the minimum grazing requirements affect the quality and flavor of the final product? According to a team of French researchers, it could mean the difference between a delicious cheese and a bland one.
In a study conducted last year at France’s National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), researchers fed four groups of dairy cows different diets for four months to simulate different drought conditions. After varying the proportions of grass, hay and corn, the milk was collected to make Cantal cheese, which was analyzed both in the laboratory and by a jury of consumer experts.
The results were clear. Cheeses made primarily from grass-based milk were richer and richer in healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, these cheeses were superior to consumers in terms of taste, aroma, aroma, and texture.
“When cows eat grazed grass, the cheese becomes softer, yellower, and more aromatic, but when cows eat little or no grass, the cheese becomes whiter, harder, and has a less pronounced flavor,” INRAE said in a statement.
While the industry is very concerned about the impact the rule changes will have on its products, Christian Janier, a fourth-generation cheesemonger in Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, believes the end result will likely be subtle and imperceptible to the average consumer.
“Given that we know that feed plays a large role in the final product, some reduction in quality may be inevitable,” he says. “But ultimately it won’t be enough for the average consumer to notice.”
Climate change not only affects the quality of cheese, but also threatens the livelihoods of French dairy farmers and France’s rich cheese-making tradition.
Cows suffering from heat exhaustion have reduced milk production by 10%, and about a month’s worth of outdoor grazing is lost due to frequent and prolonged droughts, Laws said.
Declining milk production has led to a steady decline in supply, with Saller’s cheese production falling from an average of 1,500 tonnes per year in the early 2010s to around 1,000 tonnes now, he added.
In addition, a shortage of pasture is forcing farmers to use up their winter hay reserves. Laurus said he has already spent nearly 30,000 euros (approximately 3.5 million yen) on additional feed this summer.
“The situation is becoming more and more complex and some producers are losing motivation. It’s difficult because they are losing market share and it’s difficult to stay in business,” Luhrs said.
Stéphanie Galdés is another producer who was forced to abandon mid-summer production in Saler due to the drought and instead move to the less profitable Cantal. This is a blow since he lost 20,000 euros ($23,300) in income in a similar situation last year. She points out that compared to Salars, Cantal cheesemakers are about 3 euros cheaper per kilo for the same amount of work.
This season, production ended earlier than usual. This year is shaping up to be her worst financial year since becoming a cheesemaker nine years ago.
“Two years in a row is tough, and at this point we don’t know when it’s going to end. I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel,” she says. “It’s demoralizing.”
Saler and Cantal are not the only cheeses affected by repeated heatwaves and droughts. Producers of many other AOP cheeses, including Roquefort, a blue cheese made from the raw milk of sheep from Aveyron in the south, and Abondance, a semi-hard cheese produced in Haute-Savoie in the southeast, also report difficulty meeting AOP grazing requirements.
Every summer, Emilie Jacot, her husband, and their two children take their 50 dairy cows to the 4,920-foot mountains near Annecy, where they relocate their entire Organic Abbondance cheese-making operation and camp out at the family’s cabin for three months.
This year, she says, was the first time she didn’t have to light the chalet’s wood stove to stay warm.
In the lower valley, climate change will cause temperatures to fluctuate wildly the rest of the year, with temperatures ranging from 23 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius) in a single day, Jaco said.
“Global warming is visible throughout the year,” Jacot said. “In the summer we have heat waves, but in the winter the temperature can fluctuate wildly throughout the day. This is difficult to deal with.”
As with wine, there are other factors besides heat and drought that make some seasons produce better cheese than others, says Janier, the cheesemonger.
Climate change has also dramatically increased rainfall, and when cows eat rain-soaked grass, they produce “wet milk” (a term used to describe milk that is low in protein). Cheese made with wet milk matures more quickly and can develop unpleasant pungent odors and flavors, such as ammonia.
“Once cheese reaches its peak, it starts to decline in quality, just like wine. Just like humans,” he quips.
Janier jokes that he was born inside a cheese vat and has milk coursing through his veins. He is also one of only seven cheesemongers in the country to be certified by Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF), a national honor that recognizes the country’s best craftsmen and artisans through rigorous competition.
Janier laments that French cheese has been “standardized” over the years, largely through industrial mass production.
“There’s less terrible cheese, but there’s also less really great cheese,” he says.
However, Janier added that while climate change continues to put pressure on the industry, the AOP label remains a reliable way to identify high-quality cheese.
“As soon as you see the AOP stamp on a cheese, you know it has passed a number of tests for texture, aroma and flavor.”
