European farmers switch over to virtual corn

The way farming is subsidized in the European Union has led to a remarkable innovation.

Farmers all over the EU are switching to cultivate virtual corn. Since the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU subsidizes farmers per hectare and not per productivity level, farmers find it much more profitable to grow virtual corn. It costs less to keep the area undeveloped (see picture). Moreover, all human effort can be focused on acquiring subsidies. The trend of cultivating virtual corn is inspired by the enormous growth of virtualization in the IT-sector. It enables rapid prototyping, agile development and even continuous harvesting. Last but not least: it is 100% sustainable.

The European Commission confirms that its base subsidy scheme is product type agnostic and therefore can be used for physical products and virtual products as well. It does however exclude the farmers from receiving extra bonus subsidies for specific environment detrimental subsidies. An example of such a subsidy is the bonus of 900 Euro per hectare of crop specific aid that Greek farmers receive when they switch to the extreme water intensive cultivation of cotton.

The European Farmers Association has started a lobby operation to convince the new elected members of the European Parliament that this exclusion is unfair. Virtual corn should be recognized as a specific beneficial product type as well. They argue that it greatly contributes to solve the problem of hereditary succession that farmers face. Farm succession is becoming a major issue all over Europe. Now young unemployed Europeans without any agricultural background could take over farms and earn a living by growing subsidized virtual corn.

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