Farmers’ debts. Problems with financial liquidity and weather

It’s bad. Agricultural business climate indicator developed by IRG SGH dropped in the first quarter of 2026 to -26.9 points, which means one of the lowest readings in the history of the study. The quarterly decline was greater than in the periods of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 or the energy shock of 2022.

Polish agriculture is increasingly beginning to operate on the verge of profitability. The problem is not lack of production, but excess production. It turns out that farmers produce and offer goods that they are unable to sell at a profit. In such conditions, loan repayment moves from the “financial” category to the “miracle” category.

Creative accounting for farmers

The statistics are not bad. At the end of 2025, the number in the KRD register was nearly 6%. fewer farmers-entrepreneurs than a year earlier, and their total debt decreased by over 5%. At the same time, the average debt increased to over PLN 67.5 thousand. PLN, and the average delay in repayment of liabilities was 707 days. The total debt of farmers-entrepreneurs entered into the KRD in 2025 amounted to PLN 230.5 million. That’s 5.2 percent. less than a year earlier, when this amount was PLN 243.2 million.

Note – a decrease in the number of farmer-entrepreneurs in the register does not automatically mean an improvement in their financial condition. This is just an accounting procedure and the best proof of the growing problems in this industry.

– Conversations with creditors show that many farmers close or suspend their registered sole proprietorship with the Tax Identification Number (NIP), but still run a farm as a natural person and incur PESEL liabilities, which is no longer visible in these statistics – comments Katarzyna Wuczkowska, an agriculture expert from the National Debt Register (KRD), in hurtidetal.pl.

Agricultural regions will not hide their debt

It turns out that farmers are entered into the register of debtors by creditors less often than other industries. – The industry is hermetic, settlements are often based on barter, i.e. goods in exchange for grain. Entry into the register of debtors is treated as a last resort, which many agricultural suppliers try to postpone in order not to lose a long-time customer. As a result, data on farmer-entrepreneurs show the tip of the iceberg rather than the full picture of financial problems in rural areas. The actual scale of debt of some farms may be higher than the data indicate – explains Katarzyna Wuczkowska.

The increase in debt is already clearly visible in agricultural regions: in the Lublin Voivodeship from PLN 14.3 million to PLN 18.4 million, in the Lubusz Voivodeship from PLN 6.4 million to PLN 8.7 million, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship from PLN 5.5 million to PLN 6.6 million. The same in the Podlaskie voivodeship – from PLN 13.7 million to PLN 14.2 million, the Pomeranian voivodeship (from PLN 11.7 million to PLN 12.3 million), and in the Silesian voivodeship: from PLN 7.7 million to PLN 7.8 million.