At the end of its meeting on 24/25 March 1999, the Berlin European Council reached a political agreement on the agricultural aspects of Agenda 2000. The decision includes a reduction in the intervention prices for butter and skimmed milk powder of 15% in three steps over three years starting 2005, combined with milk quota increases. Farmers' incomes are supported through directs payments! EURO 17.24/t of milk, supplemented by payments from the EU funded national envelope. As with milk producers, important changes have occurred over the last 20 years in the structure of dairies, which was accelerated with the introduction of the milk quota system. Most of the biggest dairy co-operatives in Ireland, which have dominated the dairy industries in this country, have quickened the concentration process and the expansion of the overseas business through acquisitions, have made a controversial choice of the 'demutualization' , i.e. the changeover of the co-operative to the public limited company. Dairygold Co-operative Society Limited, the second biggest milk collector in Ireland and has kept on its organisation as a 'pure genuine co-operative', has managed its business all right. But the drastic concentration of milk production on big farms may force the co-operatives to meet their economic expectation, who are firm managers rather than family farmers, and to manage more efficiently. The development course of Irish dairy co-operatives brings up an important question on the co-operative movements in the turn of the century.
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