Farmers 'will have to get second jobs': EU commissioner
(LONDON) - A growing number of farmers will have to get second jobs after European Union subsidies are slashed in 2013, the EU's farm commissioner said in an interview published Saturday.
Mariann Fischer Boel said that the agriculture sector will have to change radically to cope with swingeing cuts to the 45 billion euro (59 billion dollar) system.
"I think you will see an increase in the number of part-time farmers.
"They would live in the countryside but need an income outside the farming sector," she said in an interview with the Financial Times.
She called for a discussion with member states and farmers about how to adapt, adding: "I think everyone knows there will be less money available".
Changes already proposed by Fischer Boel include abolishing guaranteed buying of maize and she also wants to end all intervention buying, the FT said.
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