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The objective of the study is to assess production potential and structure and the economic situation of farms pursuing their activity in areas (in municipalities) with various saturation of High Nature Value farmland (HNVf) areas in Poland. The first part of the study presented a method of designating HNVf areas, designated by the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation National Research Institute (ISSPC-NRI) and the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics National Research Institute (IAFE-NRI), in cooperation with the Institute of Technology and Life Sciences (ITLS), the Institute for Agricultural and Forest Environment of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IAFE-PAS), and the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds (PSPB) upon the request of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the European Commission (EC). HNVf areas have been designated on the basis of the adopted criteria of characteristics of extensive agriculture and high nature value areas. On the other hand, the second part of the paper consisted of the organisational and economic assessment of farms from municipalities with various saturation of HNVf areas in Poland, uninterruptedly keeping accounts for the Polish FADN in the years 2016-2018. It was determined that farms from municipalities with a high saturation of HNVf areas, when compared to farms from municipalities with a lower saturation of such areas, being a reference point, have a lower production potential of soils and achieve worse production results. They have, inter alia, a smaller UAA size, smaller labour inputs and smaller capital value, including machinery and equipment. In addition, they have lower income per 1 ha of UAA, which limits their development opportunities.

The study was performed to determine the bioavailable amounts of cadmium, lead, and zinc in the soils contaminated over the years of Zn-Pb ore mining and processing near Olkusz, Poland, and to identify the environmental risk (RAC) associated with the occurrence of the most mobile forms of these metals in the soil. The authors analyzed the topsoil samples for the basic physical and chemical parameters, as well as for total metal content (by aqua regia extraction), and for percentage of 1 M HCland 1 M NH 4 NO 3-extractable fractions. The results were compared with the content of these metals in a common grass species, Agrostis capillaris. In the study region, the Cd, Pb, and Zn contents were (respectively, in mg•kg-1): 0.5-33.5, 2-529, and 4-7877. This means that in more than 24%, 30%, and 38% of samples, respectively, the metal content exceeded the limits defined by the Polish Environment Minister's Regulation of September 9, 2002, with nearly 24% of soil samples contaminated by all three metals. On the basis of the Environment Minister's Regulation of September 1, 2016, which is currently in force, and using the allowed limits for subgroup IV (industrial land), set at 15 mg•kg-1 for Cd, 600 mg•kg-1 for Pb, and 2000 mg•kg-1 for Zn, the analysis also found the excessive metal content in a considerable percentage of the topsoil samples (33%, 13%, and 38%, respectively). The content of the studied elements in a common grass species, Agrostis capillaris, was significantly higher than the so-called natural content. A strict association was found between the total Cd, Pb, and Zn content, and the potentially available 1 M HCl-extractable fraction. The environmental risk presented by the content of mobile Cd, Pb, and Zn forms, assessed in all the studied soil samples using Risk Assessment Codes (RAC), demonstrates very high environmental risk associated with Cd, high environmental risk connected with Zn, and moderate environmental risk related to Pb.

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