SANT'AGOSTINO DI FERRARA, Italy — Cheese producer Oriano Caretti woke up to the shaking earth, and then to the roar of some 30,000 39-kilogram (86-pound) wheels of Parmesan cheese crashing to the ground in the warehouse next to his home.
The 6.0-magnitude quake north of Bologna that killed seven people and toppled centuries old buildings also caused enormous damage to the region's world-renown cheese production. The Coldiretti Italian farm lobby said 400,000 wheels of Parmesan and Grana Padano cheese were damaged when the racks where they are aged collapsed.
Total agriculture losses, including lost cheese, felled livestock and damaged machinery in an area spanning Bologna, Modena and Mantova in the agriculturally rich Po River Valley, are estimated at (EURO)200 million ($254 million).
"Considering that what you see here represents the work of seven companies for two years, this means that the repercussions on the rural economy of these farms and this territory will feel it pretty badly," Caretti said Monday inside the cheese factory, where wooden shelves were still collapsed from the quake. Only one rack of 16 remained standing.
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