Does running a family farm by an individual farmer on the basis of the provisions of the Act of 11 April 2003 on shaping the agricultural system constitute management within the meaning of management science?

The purpose of the article is to determine whether running a family farm within the meaning of the provisions of the Act on shaping the agricultural system has the characteristics of an ordinance within the meaning of the science of ordinance. In addition, by characterizing the term “running a family farm”, the purpose is also to illustrate its distinguishing features, taking into account the specific subject of management – a family farm, specific features of the managing entity – an individual farmer and the unique impact of the external environment (specific legal provisions) on the manager’s decision-making process. The article is an attempt to apply the concept of management as it is understood in the science of ordinance in agricultural law, and this is to a specific type of property – a family farm. The dogmatic-legal and theoretical-legal methods were used. The study consists of the following parts: introduction; analysis of the concept of management and characteristics of the manager, analysis of the concept of running a family farm and the characteristics of the entity running the family farm and the impact of the environment on the farmer’s decisions; summaries where conclusions were formulated. Findings: running a family farm is a special type of management in the understanding of management sciences. In the legal literature, so far no attempt has been made to implement the concept of ordinance into agricultural law and the characteristics of this type of management. Taking into account the current literature reports, the author wishes to enrich the existing scientific achievements on the ordinance and to signal her contribution to the development of the discipline of management sciences and law.