One eye on the West

摘要

Agriculture, and dairying in particular, has long been important to Poland. State farms never dominated Polish agriculture as they did in the Soviet Union and a relatively large number of co-operatives were, and continue to be, the main type of organisation processing milk from the many small farms. However, in the course of the last ten years there has been considerable change in the structure of milk processing, if not of milk supply, following Poland's application to join the European Union. The country's significant population and low labour costs have attracted Western dairies. More consolidation in the number of local co-operatives is also foreseen.