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The purpose of this paper was to analyze the possibility of changes in energy intensity of production in the context of farm investment scale. The empirical section relies on unpublished FADN microdata. The study answers the question of whether investments and fixed capital growth can contribute to improvements in environmental performance of agricultural production. As it turns out, the group of farms with the greatest amount of investments saw an increase in energy consumption costs, though at a much slower rate than growth in production value. As a result, there was a drop in energy intensity of production, defined as the ratio between energy costs and production value. These findings corroborate the hypothesis advanced in this study, namely that upon reaching a sufficiently large amount of investments, farms can become capable of reducing the energy intensity of their production activity. Hence, higher levels of capital productivity are attained when the farms invest in more energy-efficient fixed assets. Conclusions cannot be universal, as the analysis involved a portion of selected farms. However, the research indicates a trend in the study of energy intensity of production depending on the scale of investment and the validity of the investment comprehensiveness approach. These conclusions provide a basis for recommendations for an agricultural policy which should include support for investments that are large and comprehensive (in relation to the farm’s assets) and go beyond the simple renewal of assets. Therefore, in its investment-oriented measures, the agricultural policy should take the innovativeness (including energy efficiency) criterion into account.

The article provides an overview of various studies on energy consumption in agriculture. The focus was in particular on the sensitivity of farms and agribusiness to fluctuations in the prices of energy carriers, which is currently a problem for the entire food industry. In addition to the prices of direct energy carriers, biofuels, the EU ETS system, and fertilizers were identified as the main areas that play a key role in shaping the direct and indirect impact on the economic performance of agricultural producers. Moreover, it was presented how sensitive the food sector is to the limitations of fertilizer production, during which by-products necessary in food processing are produced. The production of fertilizers consumes almost half of the energy used in agriculture, but the lack of fertilizers means yield drops of 30–50%. Therefore, high energy prices and disruptions in its supply are a threat to the food security of a country, both from the perspective of agriculture and processing. Based on the literature review, research gaps have been identified that should guide future research.

The aim of this study was to present factors shaping biodiesel production in Poland influenced by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). The performance of Polish biodiesel producers was analyzed. A regression model was built to identify the factors that impacted biodiesel production in Poland. The Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) was the main source of information about Polish biodiesel farmers. The FADN is the most comprehensive and detailed source of economic and agricultural data in Poland. Changes in the number of biodiesel producers in the Polish market were analyzed with the use of indicators. In the last stage of the study, the impact of selected variables on the performance of rapeseed farms was determined in a regression analysis. The second source of information was Eurostat data, which provided information about pure biodiesel production in the European Union (EU) countries from 2004 to 2019. The biggest producers of pure biodiesel in the European Union are Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. Poland is also an important producer of biodiesel in the European Union (EU). Both descriptive statistics and statistical analyses are presented. First, we used descriptive statistics to present changes in pure biodiesel production in the European Union. Second, we used statistical analyses to present factors shaping the economic performance of biodiesel producers in Poland. The study demonstrated that the number of rapeseed producers in Poland has increased and that farm performance has improved during the period analyzed. Rapeseed farms have increased their land area and the value of fixed and current assets. The land area under rapeseed cultivation has increased after Poland joined the EU, which suggests a positive response to a growing demand for biofuels.

Climate change and negative environmental effects are results of a simplified understanding of management processes, i.e., assuming economic effects as the basis for development, without taking into account external costs. Economically efficient facilities are not always environmentally efficient. Due to the existing conflict of economic and environmental goals, it seems necessary to look for measures that would include both economic and environmental elements in their structure. The above doubts were the main reasons for undertaking this research. One of the important sectors of the economy accepted for research, where energy is an essential factor of production, is agriculture. Agricultural production is very diversified both in terms of inputs and final products. Depending on the production direction, the processes of conversion of energy accumulated in inputs into energy accumulated in commodity products have different natures and relationships. Taking into account the importance of agriculture in the national economy and the current environmental needs of the world, the types of farms generating energy surplus and those in which the surplus is the least cost-consuming were indicated. The research used the economic and energy efficiency index, which makes it possible to jointly assess technical and economic efficiency. Assuming the need to produce food with low energy consumption and a positive energy balance, it is reasonable to develop a support system for those farms showing the highest economic and energy efficiency indicators.

The relationship between agriculture and climate change is two-sided. Agriculture is the branch of the economy most affected by the ongoing processes. It is also a large emitter of greenhouse gases and there are more and more voices about the need to reduce emissions. The purpose of the study was, based on FADN (Farm Accountancy Data Network) data, to determine the structure of greenhouse gas emissions in farms and to identify types of farms where it is possible to reduce GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions through better energy use. The emission volume was determined on the basis of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology modified for the FADN data. The emissions related to the production of energy were found to be of minor importance compared to other emission sources. Only in the horticultural crop type is the emission from the Energy section the dominant stream of GHG emission. The greatest emissions come from livestock production. Therefore, the emphasis on reducing emissions should not be placed on the Energy sector because, except for the type of horticultural farm, there is not much potential for reduction. The introduction of taxes for GHG emissions at the level of 27.31 EUR/t would reduce farm income from 21% for the type of field crops to 40% for the type of herbivorous animals. The exception is low-emission permanent crops, where the decrease in income would be only 3.85%.

Ensuring adequate profitability of production, which can be ensured by optimal investments, can encourage farmers to be more caring about sustainable development. Several existing studies indicate that technical efficiency in agriculture varies regionally. Investments comprise a basic way to increase efficiency and thus reduce polarisation between regions. However, contrary to established assumptions, not every investment leads to increased efficiency, which entails a phenomenon of overinvestment. Investments should, by definition, be positively correlated with efficiency. However, existing studies indicate the existence of a significant problem of overinvestment, where increased efficiency may not occur. While for about 40% of farms in Poland the scale of investments can be assessed as optimal, more than quarter of farms exhibited absolute overinvestment and nearly one in five farms is underinvested. In response to this problem, this study aimed to identify regional differences in Poland with regard to overinvestment in farms, as well as to determine changes in farm efficiency depending on the region and level of overinvestment. The source material used in the following article consisted of unpublished Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) microdata derived from the DG AGRI of the European Commission. The study covered the period 2004–2015. For an original classification of farms according to their level of overinvestment the technical efficiency, using the stochastic frontier analysis approach, was used for determining regional differences that occurred as a result of overinvestment. Stochastic frontier analysis shown noticeable differences in the average technical efficiency for different overinvestment groups. As expected, underinvested farms are the least efficient (general in Poland and in all analyzed regions) and average technical efficiency did not increase. Interestingly, optimally investing farms do not have the highest technical efficiency. Higher efficiency was achieved by both relatively and absolutely overinvested farms. This is due to the fact that in order to produce efficiently in agriculture, it is necessary to at least maintain the level of tangible assets provision, and preferably to increase it as well. In terms of overinvestment levels, farm structure does not differ significantly between individual regions in Poland. However, there are differences between regions in terms of farm efficiency within each group. In all regions, only the underinvested farms did not increase their efficiency over the period under review and the highest efficiency growth rate was in regions where farms were least efficient at baseline.