14 January 2024 , 17:29
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Jeremy Clarkson has revealed the brutal reality of trying to run his Diddly Squat Farm.
The former Top Gear host purchased his farm in the Cotswolds back in 2019 and has been open on his struggle to make a profit. Last year he admitted he was having one "last roll of the dice" to try and make money through the farm before having to sell it. It came after he was stunned to have made just £114 in profit in his first year.
Jeremy has now declared that today's farmers are "screwed" after farming subsidies have been "cut to the bone". The 63-year-old said: "They can't make anything approximating to a living wage without government help, and they can't put up prices because the supermarket system doesn't allow it."
Jeremy has documented his farming struggles on Clarkson's Farm (Getty Images)
He has admitted today's farmers are 'screwed' (Country Life/Future Publishing via Getty Images)Writing in his column for The Times, the TV star added that farmers don't fare much better in supplying meat to fast food chains. Jeremy continued: "How much of the £4 it charges for a Big Mac goes to the farmers who grew the cows and the potatoes and the flour and the tomatoes and whatever it is McDonald's puts in that delicious sauce?... Not much."
Jeremy has documented his farm life through his TV series Clarkson's Farm, where he has the help of experienced farmer Kaleb Cooper. The show helped to turn his farm into a tourist attraction, as visitors flocked to Diddly Squat Farm from across the country. However, it hasn't proved to have eased Jeremy's financial concerns for the business.
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Opening up about how he's faring on the farm in his book, Pigs Might Fly, he wrote: "It would be easy for me to let the brambles and badgers take over my farmland and to sit back and watch the deer and squirrels eat all the trees in my woods. Which is why this morning, I decided to plant my game covers with mustard. It’s my last roll of the dice."
Admitting the mustard, which deters squirrels and deer, was his 'last hope', he continued: "My last chance to make something – anything – work," before adding ominously: "And if it doesn’t? I don’t even want to think about it. It hurts my knees and my outgoings this year are truly terrifying, even for me with four other income streams. So I can’t hand it back to nature and I daren’t move forwards."
Jeremy is tied into running Diddly Squat at least for another year thanks to the work of his land agent "Cheerful" Charlie Ireland, he revealed. The presenter's girlfriend Lisa Hogan also hinted there was at least one more series of Clarkson's Farm in the pipeline as she shared a shot of the show's crew talking to her man.
The actress, 51, who has been in a relationship with Jeremy for six years, took to Instagram sharing a snap of the crew and Jeremy in deep discussion. She captioned the photo, in which Jeremy's co-star Kaleb can also be seen: "Penultimate week #clarksonsfarm #tractor #amazonprime."
One person asked in the comments section: 'When is season 3 being aired?' with Lisa confirming: "Once they edit!" Another fan enquired: "Hopefully not the penultimate week of the penultimate season," to which Lisa replied: "...nope". Meanwhile another viewer quizzed: "And season 4??" to which the actress responded with a thumbs up emoji.