Production of French Salers cheese stopped due to drought

Traditional cheese has become the latest victim of summer drought in France, with production of the salers variety in central Auvergne halted due to a lack of grass for cows.

Salers is an unpasteurized cow's cheese made for centuries in central France. It bears France's Protected Designation of Origin (AOP) seal of approval, meaning it's unique to the small area where it's produced.

But one of the rules of its production is that local cows must be fed at least 75% pasture grass if their milk is to be used.

Scorching temperatures this summer have led most of the 76 farmers whose milk is destined for the production of salers to despair as their once green pastures are parched and yellow from the drought.< /p>

"It doesn't there is nothing left to eat “, declared a farmer, Laurent Roux, on the local radio station France Bleu. “The ground is so dry that in places it looks like ash. It's dust."

The decision was made to temporarily stop cheese production in the hope that the rains would come in September and restore the pasture.

Laurent Lours, the head of the local association of Salers cheese makers, said: "Salers is a seasonal cheese, made in the season of the grass. It is one of the pillars of its identity." He said that without the grass, the cheese would look and taste completely different, which could damage its image.

This is the first time that the production of salers cheese has been completely stopped.< /p>

France is suffering its worst drought on record, with some villages in the south being deprived of water drinking water and relying on truck deliveries, and farmers warning of an impending winter milk shortage.

The corn harvest is expected to be 18.5% lower this year and farmers said other grain and fruit and vegetable crops were suffering.