France relaxes strict cheese-making rules after prolonged drought

France has temporarily relaxed rules for making some of its best-known cheeses after the summer drought drastically reduced the amount of grass available to feed milk herds. Government decrees to grant dispensations to manufacturers of Abondance, Beaufort and Comté cheeses - which come from mountains in eastern France - appeared on Wednesday. Several other cheeses are expected to receive similar waivers, allowing farmers to feed livestock with grass and hay brought in from outside their strict geographical zone. These include Cantal, Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert, Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, Reblochon and the goats cheese Rocamadour. The National Institute for Origin and...