The agrarian structure in Poland is characterised by duality: there is a small number of economically strong, market-oriented farms which develop relatively fast, but on the other hand – many small farms which, however, fulfil various socio-economic roles. Within the latter group, the semi-subsistence farms can be distinguished, whose production is intended partly for the market, and partly for own consumption. The authors made an attempt to analyse the diversity as well as the chances of development of the farms belonging to this group and to assess the possibility of moving up into the group of market-oriented farms. The sample was divided into four sub-groups by degree of their openness to market, also considering the agricultural character of the activities and the economic potential of the farms. The results of the analysis showed that there are relatively more farms classified as “problematic” and “without chances” than those classified as “recreational” or “developing”. Logistic regression allowed for the evaluation of the probability of the shift to the “developing” group. According to the results, the only statistically significant variables having an impact on the move to the “developing” group were: “the share of agricultural income in disposable income” and “target valuation <to persuade the heir into taking over the farm>”.