Cost Effectiveness of Production – A Comparative Approach by Type of Production

The purpose of this study is to determine the level of costs for individual commodity farms in Poland, indicate the importance of particular types of costs for shaping size changes in this economic category by type of farms and determine the relationship between costs and value of total production. The survey covered individual commodity farms in Poland. The basic source of data were statistics collected as part of the system for collecting and using accounting data from agricultural holdings (the Polish FADN). The data from 2013-2017 were used in the analyses. The research used the following categories of data made available by FADN: total production, total costs, intermediate consumption, direct costs, general economic costs, depreciation and costs of external factors. In the course of the research, it was shown that farms, regardless of the type of production, are characterized by high cost-intensity rates. The highest ratios are characteristic of farms specializing in the cultivation of herbivorous animals. The costs of agricultural activity in granivorous animal farms were higher than the value of production, hence the achievement of a positive agricultural income was possible through support received in the form of subsidies for operating activities. Regardless of the production direction, intermediate consumption had the highest share in the structure of farm costs.