Dopłaty bezpośrednie a zmiany w gospodarstwach rolnych na przykładzie wybranych powiatów województwa warmińsko-mazurskiego

The paper represents an attempt at assessment of the direct subsidies influence on changes at farms. The questionnaire-based surveys covered 118 farmers from Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodship (the districts of Bartoszyce, Ełk and Mrągowo). The financial aid in the form of direct subsidies improved the financial standing of farms. The majority of the respondents declared that direct subsidies contributed to a slight improvement of the financial standing (48%). Some farmers surveyed (36%) have not noticed any change concerning improvement of their financial standing while the smallest percentage of the respondents declared that as a consequence of receiving direct subsidies their financial standing improved significantly (16%); the highest share of respondents indicating that was recorded in Bartoszyce district representing 25% of the respondents from that district. In small size farms the direct subsidies were allocated mainly to financing the current expenditures. In case of farms up to 5 ha that was over 80%. In case of verification of the allocation of the direct subsidies for development of the farm, purchase of land or means of production the following correlation was visible: the larger the area of the farm the larger the allocation of direct subsidies to investments.