As discussions on Common Agricultural Policy reform linger on, EuroparlTV went to rural Poland to gauge the everyday concerns of farmers preparing for an uncertain future.

Close to you: What future for farmers in Poland?

A few years ago, the owners of this farm  decided to develop their milk production.

Using EU money they built a milking parlour  and bought the necessary equipment.

Now they produce  around 250,000 litres of milk a year.

In the beginning,  the milking went terribly.

Getting them into the milking parlour  was a real nightmare.

A couple of men came for two weeks  to help us herd them in.

Marianna Wójcicka, usually an optimist,  says that in spite of much EU aid

At the end of the summer the price  of milk went down. Petrol prices are high.

Today there is a risk  that at the end of the quota period

we will exceed the country's milk quota.

There are high fines for every  extra litre of milk produced.

The production of milk can be slowed down  but if the farm is supposed to be developed

there is the question of how to cover those  expenses, where to get the money from.

Dairy sector representatives  share this opinion.

In their opinion, milk quotas  limit milk production.

Farmers cannot produce more,  factories cannot process more.

In the meantime, other countries,  where there are no quotas, continue to.

Milk quotas in the EU  are only mandatory until 2015.

But as many politicians stress,  the quotas should be re-examined.

Enforcing quotas stabilises  the situation.

With overproduction prices go down,  farmers go bankrupt and leave the market.

If some leave the milk production market,  which is so specialised and so expensive,

it is impossible to go back  even if someone really wanted to.

The problems related to CAP reform  were discussed in Radom

during a meeting  organised by the Warsaw EP Office.

The main questions are: Why do farmers  from old Member States still get more aid?

How could we rationalise  the way of distributing subsidies?

It is important for Polish farmers  that the stabilisation period is longer

and that when making  investment decisions

the farmer knows that in two or three years  there will be subsidies.

In agriculture, once a decision is taken,  it is not easy to change.

Farmers often have to take  difficult decisions:

Which type of production to choose?  What will pay better in the long term?

Farmers who sell products on this market  every morning between 02:00-06:00

Not all of them have had a chance  to benefit from EU subsidies.

I had absolutely no chance  of receiving subsidies.

According to an agricultural  development foundation,

the average income on farms in 2004-2010  doubled in comparison to previous years.

Poland is an EU country where most young  people decide to stay in the countryside.

Not only because  of the favourable agriculture policy

but because the countryside  is more attractive.

EU subsidies are changing  rural Poland.

This can be seen in Jedlińsk where  there are more inhabitants every year.

road and sewage networks  and cultural centres were built.

More and more households  have internet access.

Many farmers from Jedlińsk  apply for farm modernisation aid.

There are plenty of new ecological farms.

Many new farms are taking advantage  of the aid's soil and water protection.

Michał – Maria's son –  sees himself in agriculture.

He benefited from start-up assistance  for young farmers.

It must be invested on the farm, either  in equipment or in building modernisation.

At the same time, Maria wanted to benefit  from the structural pension for farmers.

Transferring her farm  to her children is one condition.

Unfortunately, she did not meet  the minimum age requirement of 55.

These pensions will no longer exist  in Poland as of this year.

These structural pensions divided  the village and farmers

Michał, the young farmer,  has plans for expansion.

He's considering buying more land  in order to expand his farm.

He wants to continue the production  his parents carried out for years,

which will probably will be passed on  to his son in the future.