The mid-term CAP review marks an important break in the way the Public Authorities intervene in the dairy sector. If the fall in the subsidized prices of butter and skimmed milk powder significantly affects the price paid to the producer, many specialised and low-efficiency French dairy farms will become economically fragile. By 2008, direct payments will play a determining role in the formation of dairy producers’ income. Concerned by the modulation system to a high degree but with a low level of levy, the various categories of dairy farms will nevertheless be very sensitive to the conditions for implementation of the decoupling (partial or total decoupling, historical individual references or regionalisation).