A recently published report shows that the largest group of farmers, 32.9%, describe their financial situation as average. Positive assessments account for 36.6% of responses, including 9.1% who say their situation is very good and 27.5% who describe it as rather good. Negative opinions represent 30.5%, with 19.3% saying their situation is rather poor and 11.2% describing it as very poor. Experts commenting on the results stress that the prevalence of neutral assessments may indicate a lack of financial reserves and strong dependence on external factors. At the same time, around one third of farms appear to be struggling to maintain liquidity or are under debt pressure, which increases their risk in the event of price fluctuations. Only a small proportion of the surveyed farmers have real investment freedom.
According to the report The Financial Condition of Polish Farmers 2026, prepared by UCE Research, the largest group of farmers rate their financial situation as neither good nor bad, at 32.9%. Adrian Parol, legal counsel and restructuring adviser, and an expert in agricultural sector debt, believes that the dominance of this response does not mean stabilisation in the sense of economic security. Rather, it indicates that farms are operating in a state of balance, where income covers costs but does not generate significant surpluses.
“This is very important, because in practice it means a sector operating on the edge, without financial buffers. Such a condition is typical for farms during periods of cost pressure, especially when production inputs are expensive and revenues are difficult to predict. In this sense, neutrality is not comfort, but rather an economic ‘zero point’ that is relatively stable, but only seemingly so,” says Adrian Parol.
Dr Paweł Kraciński from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences, however, says that these results should be interpreted as negative. If there are no surpluses, it means that farmers are not earning money. In other words, they are not generating an adequate profit. The report also found that 30.5% of respondents assess their situation negatively, with 19.3% describing it as rather poor and 11.2% as very poor. As Dr Kraciński explains, this means that a significant proportion of farms are facing liquidity problems, which is a serious warning signal.
“In a sector so strongly dependent on external factors, this share of negative assessments translates not only into problems for individual farms, but also into greater instability across the entire agricultural market. This may result in limited investment, rising debt and a decline in farms’ ability to respond to crises,” comments Łukasz Goszczyński, legal counsel and restructuring adviser at GKPG law firm.
In the report, positive assessments account for a total of 36.6%, including 9.1% very good and 27.5% rather good. “The low share of very good assessments indicates that only a small proportion of farms are in a financially comfortable position that allows them to invest freely and build safety buffers. The sector has a limited upper capital layer, meaning that relatively few farms act as investment and modernisation leaders,” says Łukasz Goszczyński.
Professor Jakub Piecuch from the University of Agriculture in Kraków believes that the relative balance between responses indicating a good and poor financial situation is evidence of a lack of stability and a weak sense of security among farmers. “In my opinion, the survey results point to uncertainty. To deepen the analysis, it would be worth taking into account farmers’ macroeconomic situation, including the inflow of products from Ukraine, the opening of the common market under the MERCOSUR agreement, contracts with Australia and so on. All of this means that the pressure felt by farmers is increasing,” notes Professor Piecuch.
According to Adrian Parol, the picture is more ambiguous than the dominance of the neutral category alone might suggest. The total of 36.6% positive assessments shows that more than one third of farms operate in conditions of stability or even real investment capacity. At the same time, the 30.5% share of negative assessments shows that almost every third farm is experiencing real financial problems, in some cases very serious ones, related to loss of liquidity or debt risk. In agriculture, this is particularly important because it limits the ability to invest and increases sensitivity to price fluctuations. This is not yet a picture of a systemic crisis, but it is a level that is highly sensitive to any deterioration in the macroeconomic environment.
“What we see is a structure polarised around the centre, with a significant share of extreme tensions. The sector is stretched between stability and crisis, without the clear dominance of either condition. Only a small proportion of farms are in a financially comfortable position that allows them to invest freely and build safety buffers. In practice, this means that the sector has a limited upper capital layer, with relatively few farms acting as investment and modernisation leaders,” says Adrian Parol.
As the expert from the Warsaw University of Life Sciences explains, the good situation of a small group of farmers results from specific types of activity, such as niche production. Some products or branches of agriculture can generate profits, including certain vegetables and fruits in specific periods. “However, this does not mean that the same farmers will not find themselves in a poor situation next year. Volatility, especially in small markets, is high. Worse still, most macroeconomic factors are having a negative impact. Interest rates remain high compared with the profitability of agricultural production. The labour market is difficult, because few people are willing to work in agriculture, which drives up wage costs and sometimes even forces farmers to abandon or reorganise production,” points out Dr Paweł Kraciński.
In Łukasz Goszczyński’s opinion, the neutral responses in the survey show that even minor shocks could push many farms towards negative assessments. The prevailing sentiment in agriculture depends mainly on the stability of production costs, purchase prices and regulatory predictability. At present, the most likely scenario is further polarisation. Some farms will continue to develop, while the rest will feel increasing financial pressure. Professor Jakub Piecuch also expects farmers’ situation to become increasingly difficult, partly because of climate change, rising fertiliser prices and competition from producers in countries where agricultural production is cheaper than in Poland.
Source: CEO.com.pl.
