In the light of common doubts concerning efficient functioning of cereal farms with poor soil, the article attempts to assess their production potential, organisation of production, economic viability and environmental efficiency, as well as development opportunities. The division was made in three groups of cereal farms, selected by size of the cumulative point relative goodness indicator, that in 2005-2010 kept accounts for the Polish FADN. The first group included developing farms that obtained 449-518 points, the second group included problem farms (282-310 points), and the third group consisted in declining farms (207-234 points). The division was made in accordance with the Ward clustering method and k-means method, as well as the Statistica 8.0 programme. The results of the analysis may confirm the hypothesis that there are farms with poor soil where the poor quality of soil does not exclude efficient functioning and implementation of the long-term objective, i.e. not only existence but also development.