Gospodarstwa rodzinne w USA – status, znaczenie i aktualne problemy

The article discusses a wide range of issues concerning an American conception of the family farm, taking into account its historical genesis and current approach of US institutions and American doctrine. In this context, the author aims to verify traditional argument, that family farms constitute the basis of American agriculture. An attempt to achieve above-mentioned purpose of the paper affects strongly its construction. In the first part of the article, the Author describes American notion of the “family farm” and its numerous definitions within US state and federal law, as well as doctrinal statements. The second part of the paper is devoted to the importance of small family farms to the American economy and to the role, which these units actually play in the American agriculture. Furthermore, the Author makes an attempt to indicate the most important problems that currently face small family farms in the US. Finally, in the last part of the article, the Author tries to describe the methods of family farms support, which is provided by different public entities – first of all United States Department of Agriculture, but also state legislatures and court jurisdiction (case-law).