This paper presents a comprehensive review of the Polish farm sector. The main objective is to analyse the causes of its backwardness and slow development. Low remuneration of farm work and the resultant low profitability are the largest problems of many farms. Several causes of the low profitability are evaluated. We show that all relevant causes are closely interrelated and that the extraordinarily high labour intensity has the largest impact. Subsequently, we analyse several causes of the extremely large share of agricultural employment in the Polish economy. Low skills of farm workers, the poor performance of the land market and the high level of subsidisation of the social security system for farmers (KRUS) are identified as the most important causes. Finally, some policy recommendations are given.