Polish farms increase alternative income activities by 57%

The number of Polish farms engaging in alternative income-generating activities has increased by 57.1% over the last three years. According to data from Statistics Poland, 38,500 farms conducted additional activities directly related to their agricultural resources in 2023, up from 24,500 in 2020.

These activities utilize farm assets such as land, buildings, machinery, and family labor. Common examples include agritourism, food processing, providing machinery services, and energy production. Contracted agricultural work was the most frequent activity, performed by 9,664 farms, followed by agritourism (7,540) and food processing (7,032).

Despite the growth, most of these activities remain supplementary. In 2023, 51.4% of these farms reported that income from additional activities accounted for less than 10% of their total sales.

In a related development regarding the future of the sector, the National Support Centre for Agriculture has launched the second edition of the ‘Energy from Agriculture’ competition. Aimed at primary school students, the contest encourages creative projects on how farms can integrate with renewable energy sources, such as biogas plants and other innovative technologies.