The value of financing for agricultural machinery and equipment reached PLN 7.5 billion in 2025, up 24.5% year on year, according to data from the Polish Leasing Association (Związek Polskiego Leasingu). The agro segment already accounted for 28% of the entire machinery and equipment financing market, becoming one of its strongest pillars. After two weaker years, farmers clearly returned to investment activity, although 2026 may bring a slowdown in growth momentum.
A noticeable shift in the business cycle for financing agricultural investment took place in 2025. Several factors combined to unlock demand: improved access to funding, lower interest rates, and a broad inflow of EU money. As a result, pent-up demand from 2023–2024 was released, and some farms accelerated investment decisions out of concern that support programmes could be phased out.
“2025 was a breakthrough year for the agro market. After two years of a clear slowdown, farmers returned to purchasing decisions, especially in the segment of key machines such as tractors and trailers. This was driven by interest rate cuts, the need to improve production efficiency, and natural, postponed demand,” says Roman Szczeciński, Agro Market Relationship Manager at EFL.
The scale of growth in the agro segment stood out clearly against the broader machinery and equipment market.
“Financing for agricultural machinery and equipment reached PLN 7.5 billion with strong growth dynamics. The results confirm farmers’ rising investment activity, particularly in modernising machinery fleets and making use of available subsidies,” emphasizes Marcin Hałaj, Director for Agricultural Market Development at PKO Leasing.
Subsidies and interest rates as the market’s engine
The investment impulse was particularly visible in the first half of the year. Funding from ARiMR, the closing perspective of the Rural Development Programme (PROW) 2014–2020, and programmes under the CAP Strategic Plan (PS WPR) and Agriculture 4.0 all played an important role. At the same time, falling interest rates lowered financing costs and improved farms’ creditworthiness.
“For us, 2025 was another year of growth both in volume and in the number of transactions. Sentiment improved among farmers and machinery suppliers, supported by interest rate cuts and the launch of subsidies under PROW and PS WPR 2023–2027,” notes Mariusz Pacanowski, Director for Agro at Pekao Leasing.
However, the second half of 2025 brought greater investment caution due to declining prices for grains, milk, and some animal products. Some farms extended their decision-making processes and analysed the profitability of new investments more carefully.
Loans dominate over leasing
In the financing structure, leasing loans (pożyczka leasingowa) clearly dominated. This was primarily due to the requirements of subsidy programmes and farmers’ preference for direct ownership of the asset.
“A loan remains by far the most frequently chosen form of financing in the agricultural segment. Many support programmes cannot be combined with operating leasing, and farmers prefer a model in which the machine is their property from the very beginning,” says Marcin Hałaj of PKO Leasing.
“The undisputed leader was the loan. It is driven by the possibility to finance 100% of the gross price, compliance with ARiMR requirements, and flexible alignment of the repayment schedule with production seasonality,” adds Mariusz Pacanowski of Pekao Leasing.
Operating leasing remains important—especially among larger entities and farms operating as companies—yet in projects co-financed with public funds, the loan plays the dominant role.
Modernisation and precision agriculture
The structure of financed assets was similar to previous years: tractors, tillage machinery, seeders, and sprayers dominated. However, investments aimed at improving efficiency and automation gained increasing importance.
“In 2025, development-focused investments dominated, oriented towards automation and precision agriculture. Farms are increasingly investing in technologies that genuinely reduce costs and increase labour productivity,” stresses Piotr Kamiński, Sales Director for Agriculture and Food Industry Financing at DLL.
Medium and large farms—particularly crop producers—were the most investment-active. Investments had both replacement and development characteristics, although subsidy programmes strongly supported modernisation and digitalisation.
A stable portfolio and cautious forecasts
Despite a more challenging second half of the year, portfolio quality in the agricultural segment remained stable.
“In 2025, despite negative signals from the market, we did not observe deterioration in portfolio quality in the agricultural sector. The average level of arrears was lower than a year earlier, and the risk level reached one of the lowest points in recent years,” says Piotr Domagała, Director for the Agricultural Market at Santander Leasing.
The outlook for 2026 is more moderate. The fading impact of the accumulated funds from PROW 2014–2020 may limit market dynamics.
“We assume the market will return to a level close to 2024, which in practice will mean a visible decline compared with 2025. The key factors will be the pace of launching funds under the National Strategic Plan and price conditions in agricultural markets,” assesses Piotr Domagała of Santander Leasing.
The year 2025 confirmed that leasing and loans are a cornerstone of modernising Polish farms. The year 2026 will test the durability of this trend—less spectacular in terms of growth rates, but still rooted in the structural need to raise efficiency and competitiveness in the agricultural sector.
Expert opinions from leasing companies
Piotr Domagała, Director for the Agricultural Market at Santander Leasing
When analysing the outlook for 2026, it is worth paying attention to the factors that shaped the past 12 months. The results for 2025 were largely driven by the accumulation of funds from the concluding PROW 2014–2020 programme. These funds were the main engine of the market, clearly confirmed by new tractor sales statistics. This investment impulse will expire this year, but it is important to remember that the National Strategic Plan is currently being implemented. Although significant funds will reach farmers under this framework, the pace at which they are disbursed remains an open question. In summary, from the perspective of agricultural machinery financing, we assume a return to a level close to 2024, which in practice would mean around a 17% decline compared with 2025. January results so far confirm this thesis.
Marcin Hałaj, Director for Agricultural Market Development at PKO Leasing
A loan remains by far the most frequently chosen form of financing in the agricultural segment. In fact, not only there—because in 2025 leasing loans grew much faster than traditional leasing, increasing their value by 27% year on year to PLN 17.3 billion. This highlights the rising importance of this form of financing for projects that require direct ownership of assets. This trend should continue this year. What supports it is primarily the fact that many subsidy programmes—including ARiMR schemes—cannot be combined with leasing, which automatically directs farmers towards loans. In addition, farmers “traditionally” prefer to own equipment—machines purchased with a loan become their assets immediately.
It is also worth noting that the share of leasing is steadily increasing compared with previous years. Some farmers—especially those running additional service activities or operating in the form of a company—are beginning to see the tax benefits and flexibility offered by leasing.
Piotr Kamiński, Sales Director for Agriculture and Food Industry Financing at DLL
Last year, the most active were medium and large farms, particularly producers focused on crop production, as well as dairy and livestock farms investing in automation. These groups were the ones most frequently deciding to modernise and replace equipment.
We expect solid demand for machinery financing to continue, although its growth rate may be somewhat lower than in 2025. The key factors will remain the pace of farm modernisation and the availability of machinery. At the same time, it should be expected that there will no longer be such broad access to investment-support funds as in previous years, which may additionally affect farmers’ investment activity.
Investments in 2026 will be supported by: stabilisation of agricultural commodity prices, the continued need for modernisation and automation on farms. They may be constrained by weather factors and price volatility in agricultural produce, which can increase farmers’ investment caution.
Mariusz Pacanowski, Director for Agro at Pekao Leasing
On the farmers’ side, the main sources of growth in 2025 resulted above all from a strong rebound in demand after two weaker years. In 2024, many agricultural producers reduced investments due to more difficult access to financing, related among other things to the entry into force of the consumer pawn loan act. Sentiment across the sector also deteriorated due to declining production profitability and regulatory and political uncertainty, including issues such as the Green Deal or the Mercosur agreement. In 2025, part of this pent-up demand was released.
Another important factor was increased availability of subsidies from ARiMR, including funds under PROW, PS WPR, and welfare and modernisation subsidies. Some investments were financed using both the closing PROW funds and new instruments under PS WPR 2023–2027, which clearly supported farms’ investment activity.
In addition, falling interest rates increased farmers’ interest in new investments, particularly in further modernisation. Lower financing costs improved creditworthiness and translated into a greater willingness to make investment decisions.
Equally important was the need to improve production efficiency and reduce costs. With low prices for grains, pigs, or vegetables, farmers began to look more intensively for ways to cut production costs. They invested in machinery essential for farm operations, Agriculture 4.0 solutions, and technologies that mitigate the impact of shortages of qualified labour.
Roman Szczeciński, Agro Market Relationship Manager at EFL
The year 2026 will also bring a number of legal changes that will have a significant impact on Polish farmers. A new provision regarding the definition of an “active farmer” is expected to enter into force this year. This draft law, adopted by the Council of Ministers at the end of last year, is intended to strengthen farms that genuinely bear economic risk. Another change is the National e-Invoicing System (KSeF). From 1 February 2026, large companies will enter the KSeF system, and from April, most taxpayers will follow. In addition, there is a draft bill on agricultural leases. The bill assumes that every lease agreement will have to be documented—i.e., its date confirmed by a notary, a mayor (wójt), or the head of a county ARiMR office. These changes may create additional challenges for farms. An additional factor that—paradoxically—could improve sentiment among machinery producers is the prospect of increased exports outside the EU in connection with the EU–Mercosur trade agreement. At the same time, farmers will have to face new legal regulations, including the definition of an active farmer, the implementation of the National e-Invoicing System, and changes concerning land leases.
