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Abstract
Sweden is on the verge of a dramatic restructuring of
its dairy industry. A switch to the most free market dairy
policy in Western Europe will lead to lower producer
prices and as a result lower production. Many farmers will
quit dairying but not necessarily quit farming. The
decrease in cow numbers and the number of producers
will be a continuation of past changes. Adjustments will
be even greater for farmer owned dairy cooperatives.
They face unprecedented changes in making a transition
from being protected from competition to a situation
where they compete openly (and possibly destroy each
other) or to a situation where they cooperate with each
other to reduce milk production, mitigate the speed of
price deClines, and preserve a cooperative system to represent
farmers in dairy policy as Sweden enters the' EC.