Introduction: The Illusion of Truth Effect — Why You Love Lies
We’re all going to starve. Young people have abandoned the countryside to “click away on computers” in the cities. Polish farmland lies abandoned, overgrown with weeds. Sound familiar? Congratulations — you’ve just fallen victim to a collective hallucination fed to you daily by the media, because fear generates clicks. Psychologists call this the “illusion of truth effect.” Our lazy brains prefer simple, repeated nonsense over spending energy analyzing facts.
The truth is that rural Poland is not dying. It is undergoing a brutal, professional transformation that many people find unsettling because it doesn’t fit their romantic vision of a thatched cottage in the countryside. It’s time to confront rural myths with hard data and find out who is really feeding whom fairy tales.
1. The “Bloody War” for Every Hectare
You hear on the news that nobody wants to farm anymore? Take a look at the land tenders organized by Poland’s National Support Centre for Agriculture (KOWR). There is no emptiness there. There is fierce competition. Young farmers are practically fighting over every square meter of land, and bidding wars often resemble ancient gladiatorial contests.
The evidence? Lease rates have reached almost absurd levels, in extreme cases climbing to the equivalent of 11.5 tonnes of wheat per hectare. That is not what a collapsing industry looks like. It is a professional, aggressive market where the strongest and best-prepared players compete intensely for resources. If this is what “lack of interest” looks like, one can only imagine what real demand would be.
2. Fewer Farmers, More “White Gold”
Another popular claim: “We’re going to run out of milk because the number of farms is falling.” Yes, the number of farms is declining. But milk production — much to the disappointment of the pessimists — continues to rise. Since Poland joined the European Union, milk production has increased by approximately 3.5% annually. In some highly modern operations, such as those associated with Martin Ziaja, growth has reached an impressive 7%.
“Fewer farmers are producing significantly more milk. Magic? No — professionalism. In the 1980s we had three million farms and vinegar on store shelves. Today we flood Europe with white gold, and nothing will stop us — not bureaucratic fears, nor urban newcomers who moved to the countryside for ‘fresh air’ and then call the police because a tractor is making noise.”
That is the difference between a romantic myth and a real business. We produce more because we are better, more efficient, and more modern.
3. Romantic Vision vs. Real Food Security
Many people believe that food security can only be guaranteed by small, traditional farms. It is a charming image — perfect for Instagram — but in reality it is a form of sentimental thinking that often blocks progress. Officially, Poland has around 1.2 million farms, yet no more than about 400,000 of them are responsible for the vast majority of actual food production.
The rest are often what some call “peace-and-quiet landowners” who keep agricultural land mainly to receive subsidies. History does not lie. In the 1980s, an army of three million small farms guaranteed little more than shortages and ration lines. Today, professional producers operating within modern supply chains feed both Poland and much of Europe, despite increasing regulatory burdens and frequent misunderstanding from consumers.
4. The 3.5-Minute Revolution
We are becoming increasingly efficient — and that directly affects your wallet. Agriculture has become so productive that food, relative to earnings, is cheaper today than at almost any point in modern history
Consider this: Before Poland joined the European Union, the average citizen had to work approximately 12 minutes to earn enough money for one liter of milk. Today, that same liter costs only about 3.5 minutes of work. That is an enormous leap in productivity and prosperity. Yet we often ignore this achievement while complaining about food prices at the checkout counter. We produce faster, cheaper, and on a much larger scale — and that is the primary reason why supermarket shelves remain full.
5. Smart Beats Big — The Antidote to Corporate Agriculture
Does this modern agricultural machine mean that smaller producers should give up and look for jobs at the local supermarket? Absolutely not. The answer is not competing on volume but competing on intelligence, specialization, and value. Mirela Paterok is a perfect example. With only five cows, she manages to make a good living by producing exceptional artisan cheeses through Poland’s Direct Farm Retail system (RHD)
Can it be done? Absolutely. But it requires an idea, a niche product, and a genuine willingness to sell and market that product — not an expectation that government subsidies will reward inactivity. Modern agriculture does not exclude small farms, provided they stop being “farmers on paper” and start acting like entrepreneurs.
Conclusion: Saying Goodbye to Fairy Tales
It is time to stop believing media narratives about “empty fields” and the collapse of rural Poland. The data are uncomfortable for pessimists: Polish agriculture is strong, professional, and highly productive. Of course, the sector faces challenges — price volatility, temporary oversupply, and market fluctuations. But these are normal business cycles, not signs of structural collapse.
So here is a question that deserves an honest answer: Are you ready to accept a modern, professional countryside — with its smells, machinery noise, and intensive work? Do you want affordable, widely available food? Or do you want silence outside the window of your new house on the outskirts of town? Because you cannot have both. It is time to grow up and start believing numbers instead of fairy tales.
