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%.

Article concerns economic and energy efficiency of agriculture in European Union countries. The study period concerned 2016. For analysis and presentation of materials, descriptive, tabular and graphic methods and the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method – CCR (Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes) model focused on input-oriented minimisation were used. An assessment of the socio-economic development of the EU countries was made using the following measures: Human Development Index (HDI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita (USD per inhabitant). Modern agriculture depends on industrial energy sources and as the socio-economic development changes into more and more energy-intensive production technologies. After presenting the introduction and review of the literature, the economic and energy efficiency of agriculture in the EU countries in 2016 was examined, which was at a high level – the DEA reached 0.67. Then, the correlation between the socio-economic development of countries and their economic and energy efficiency was analysed. It was also found that along with socio-economic development in the EU countries, the economic and energy efficiency of agriculture is increasing.

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.

Modern agriculture is dependent on external energy sources. Non-renewable energy sources play a dominant role, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and, as a consequence, to environmental degradation. Therefore, it becomes obvious to strive to improve energy efficiency and change the structure of its sources. One of the main research goals was to determine the economic and energy efficiency of agriculture in EU countries and assess its energy consumption by analysing energy consumption per employee or 1 ha of utilized agricultural area. The work analyses changes in energy consumption in agriculture of the European Union and its members. Eurostat data was used for the analysis.

The main objective of the studies was to discuss situation in sheep milk market in the European Union. Specific objectives include presentation of the data related to dairy sheep's population and commercial production of sheep's milk in separate EU countries, as well as indication of the main interdependent factors with milk production. Studies have been performed on a group that included all the countries which belonged to the EU as of 31.12.2013 and commercial produce a sheep's milk. There were 14 such countries. Data assumed for studies concerned years 2008-2017. The sources of materials were analysis of literature, EUROSTAT Database. For the purposes of the analysis of the materials, the authors used dynamic indicators on variable base, Gini coefficient, concentration analysis using the Lorenzo curve, and the Pearson linear correlation coefficient. For materials' presentation the authors used descriptive, tabular and graphical methods. Studies carried out allowed to show changes in sheep's milk production. In 2008-2017, the production of sheep's milk intended for processing in dairies increased, which could have been a result from the less internal consumption of farms. The level of concentration of sheep milk production in the EU was very high, but there were No changes in this regard. Commercial production of sheep's milk was concentred in several countries, like Greece, Spain, Italy and France. Commercial production of sheep's milk was more correlated with sheep population and lamb meat production, than population of dairy sheep and economy parameters.