Extreme heat threatens Parmesan heartland - Taipei Times

HEAT STRESSED:

Farmers have installed costly fans and water-mist systems to counter the heat, which has affected milk production and sent costs soaring

Reuters, MONTECAVOLO and MEDESANO, Italy

Fifty years ago, farmers in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region used to open the windows in their barns at night during the summer to keep their cattle cool.Today, as heatwaves send temperatures soaring to record highs, those windows stay open round the clock to protect the cows, and ultimately their milk, the foundation of the area’s centuries-old Parmigiano Reggiano cheese industry.“Extreme heat impacts milk’s quality and quantity,” said Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, who also runs the dairy farm that his family founded in 1895 on the outskirts of Parma.

An employee turns a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese inside Credito Emiliano’s Magazzini Generali delle Tagliate cheese vault in Montecavolo di Quattro Castella, Italy, on Monday last week.