Contemporary farms are enterprises that operate according to market principles, the development of which is influenced by a number of factors. The aim of the paper was to identify factors that inhibit the development of farms located in south-eastern Poland. The study made use of findings obtained in research by the Central Office of Statistics (GUS) concerning the structure of agricultural farm holdings in 2016. Factors inhibiting the development of agricultural farms located in south-eastern Poland include, first and foremost, unfavourable agrarian patterns, few farm owners with agricultural training as well as lack of appropriate managerial skills needed for effective management in modern agricultural enterprises. Only about 20% of farm managers were below 40 years of age. About 15% of owners indicated that over 50% of farm incomes were from non-agricultural activities
