Cheese makers’ climate challenge

A cheese stall at a market in Privas, France. Reams of rules govern how the best French cheeses are made, but hotter, drier summers may unshackle struggling producers. — ©2023 The New York Times Company

JUST past the neat vineyards and country houses with their blue shutters and tile roofs, goats munch their way through a field of thigh-high plants more typical to Sudan and India than southern France.

It is late September and 27°C – unseasonably warm, which is increasingly common and in fact the whole point.