John Latham, Cambridgeshire grower and chairman of Camgrain, is preparing for a lower subsidy future by sharing labour and machinery with his farming neighbours.

In the second part of our series on planning for a farming future with less financial support, he explains how he has been preparing for this eventuality for the past 17 years.

He has joined up with three neighbouring farmers to form a partnership which offer each of the businesses contract services, and they all sell their grain through grain co-operative Camgrain.

See also: Future of subsidies (part 2): Collaborate to cope with lower support

Mr Latham argues Camgrain’s size and close relationships with end users, such as millers and maltsters, means it can obtain better prices for its grower members.

He says it is unlikely the UK government will continue to support farming like Brussels, so all farming needs to prepare for an eventual fall in financial support.

With Britain set to leave the EU, the £2.3bn spent on direct farming subsidies – the Basic Payment Scheme – is likely to come under scrutiny, although the government has pledged to maintain support levels until 2020.