Jeremy Clarkson‘s Diddly Squat farm made just £144 in its first year – highlighting the threat faced by farmers from what he calls council bureaucrats, ‘badger vigilantes’ and ‘cow police’.
The former Top Gear host has been praised for using his hit Amazon Prime show to expose the problems facing the agriculture industry, from meddlesome pen-pushers to uncertainty caused by Brexit.
Working on the farm has previously led the presenter to wonder how farmers ‘who don’t have Amazon film crews’ would survive the removal of agricultural subsidies after Brexit.
Charlie Ireland, who advises Clarkson on how to manage his 1,000-acre farm, predicts the UK will lose ’30 per cent’ of farmers who can no longer make the industry financially viable, pointing out that Diddly Squat’s paltry revenues had also been boosted by media attention.
And in last night’s episode, Clarkson stormed out of an Oxfordshire council planning meeting after learning that plans for his Diddly Squat Farm restaurant would be refused.
In episode five, Jeremy Clarkson can be seen attending a planning application meeting, in which his plans for a restaurant on the farm are refused
Despite recording limited profits, the TV personality’s farm has £1.34million in assets and 17 employees.
While Clarkson has faced plenty of criticism from locals in the village, he has also won praise from other farmers.
Among them is fellow celebrity farmer, Roger Daltrey, former frontman of The Who fame, who texts him: ‘If we can’t overcome the opposition to diversification schemes, what hope is there for ordinary farmers?’
Jamie Blackett, who farms in Dumfriesshire and has written several books about rural life, said that despite Clarkson’s ‘slapstick’ approach, he ‘puts his finger on some of the most important challenges in the British countryside’.
Mr Blackett praised him for standing up to the ‘Packhamites’ – a reference to naturalist Chris Packham – and ‘white settlers clustered around Nimby Central in the former farming community known as the Cotswolds’.
Writing in The Telegraph, he said Clarkson’s view of badgers – which ‘[borders] on clinically psychopathic’ – is ‘shared by anyone who really cares about our native fauna’ due to the harm they do to wildlife and how they contribute to the spread of TB.
But, he adds, the ‘bigger theme running through the eight episodes explores his thesis that the post-Brexit plan to remove agricultural subsidies has set British farmers up for catastrophe unless red tape can be cut to allow them to diversify and add value to their produce by selling direct to the consumer’.
West Oxfordshire District Council last night spoke out after Clarkson’s clash with officials.
After the show aired fans suggested ‘pen-pushing’ council officials ‘hate Clarkson’ and had a ‘vendetta’ against the star.
Roger Daltrey of The Who, another celebrity farmer, is among those praising Clarkson for shining a light on the reality of farming
The majority of West Oxfordshire District Council vote in favour of refusing Clarkson’s restaurant plans
Clarkson storms out of the planning meeting after permission for his restaurant is refused
In response, a council spokesman said the presenter is treated ‘no differently’ than anyone else.
The council has stressed that proper procedures were followed in Clarkson’s planning applications, which included plans for a car park.
A statement said: ‘We understand that the planning process shown in Season 2 of Clarkson’s Farm can seem obstructive and that people will be confused by the planning decisions at Diddly Squat Farm.
‘As with any other planning authority, we have a legal responsibility to make sure that planning laws and policies are followed correctly by everyone to manage development and protect local communities and the environment.
‘This is regardless of who they are and we treat Diddly Squat Farm no differently.’
It comes after the furore over Clarkson’s comments on Meghan Markle in a column in The Sun newspaper – after which he temporarily closed the doors to his shop.
But yesterday Clarkson confirmed there will be a third season of his hugely popular farming show, despite suggestions Amazon would axe it in the wake of the backlash.
Diddly Squat Farm, in Chadlington, is located in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which means it is subject to tighter planning restrictions than other areas of the country.
There were huge queues outside Clarkson’s farm shop after it reopened at the weekend for the first time since its winter closure
Huge queues of cars outside Clarkson’s farm in the Cotswolds on Saturday
The council added: ‘As shown on the programme, officers from the council went to meet with the owners of Diddly Squat Farm to provide advice which was one of multiple conversations we had to try and support the farm.
‘Over recent years, Diddly Squat Farm has had many planning applications approved where they were in line with national and local planning policy.
‘This included approving the farm shop with its current car park, approving a lambing shed and allowing the area from which farm shop produce could be sourced to be extended.
‘The farm shop we approved can sell local produce from local farmers – which we wholly support.’
Clarkson and the council have come head to head several times since he took over the farm in 2019.
Many locals were dissatisfied with the business when the presenter decided to build a farm shop and restaurant.
Clarkson has admitted his neighbours are ‘divided’ when it comes to him and his farm, suggesting it was partly to do with ‘my past’.
After criticism from Clarkson, the council insisted all the relevant planning laws had been followed
West Oxfordshire District Council has hit back at Clarkson – saying his Diddly Squat Farm must abide by planning and bylaws, despite its popularity
The council rejected two planning applications for the restaurant last year, which he appealed.
Applications to expand the car park from ten spaces to 70 were also rejected by the council, which said it would be ‘visually intrusive’.
The plan also included new entry and exit points off Chipping Norton Road and a storage compound.
After the council overturned his plans to turn his old lambing barn into a restaurant, Jeremy settled for transforming an abandoned barn instead.
Since reopening over the weekend after being closed for the winter, the farm shop saw huge queues of eager fans.
Photographs show long lines of people waiting to enter the TV star’s shop on Diddly Squat Farm and many cars parked along the country road.
Local council officials warned Clarkson fans not to cause any traffic chaos by parking near his farm ahead of the expected influx of fans to the site.
Clarkson and the council have come head to head several times since he took over the farm in 2019
Meanwhile, preparations for the grand opening of the restaurant on the weekend were thrown into disarray when Jeremy and the team were faced with electrical faults in the venue.
There was soon a pile up of visitors arriving in their cars as the restaurant was not ready to seat them. As a result, Clarkson reportedly stormed off in a rage.
It comes as Clarkson has confirmed there will be a third season of his farming show, after claims Amazon would axe it amid backlash over his controversial Meghan Markle column.
The 62-year-old received glowing reviews on social media after the new season came out on Friday morning.
Many fans have reportedly binge-watched the series in the space of one weekend and are already keen for more.
From Kaleb to Charlie: Who are the key characters in Clarkson’s Farm?
KALEB COOPER
Kaleb has become the unlikely star of Jeremy Clarkson’s fly on the wall documentary thanks to down-to-Earth manner.
Despite being the less senior of the two, the 24-year-old is regularly seen giving his boss Jeremy a dressing down, and has even claimed he is in charge of the operation.
Kaleb and Taya, who have a son, Oscar, recently announced they were expecting a baby girl
Born and bred in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, a small town with a population of just 6,337, Kaleb says he never wants to leave, despite his immense success.
Speaking to The Times magazine, he revealed the furthest he has ever travelled from his village is London, which he has visited three times, and hated, describing it as ‘f****** awful’.
The prospect of travelling abroad is even less likely, as the farming expert does not currently own a passport.
Last year, he revealed that he and his fiancée Taya are expecting a baby girl.
Kaleb shared the happy news on social media with a gender reveal video featuring two tractors blowing out pink exhaust.
The couple already have a young son, Oscar.
Following the success of Clarkson’s Farm, which debuted in 2021, he has built an army of a million Instagram fans and written a book.
GERALD COOPER
Gerald – no relation to Kaleb – is a dry stone waller who has won his own fan account despite having an accent so thick that many viewers have been left needing to turn on the subtitles.
The West Country native has been combine harvesting on the farm for 50 years and seems to have a constant smile on his face.
However in one hilarious encounter, Gerald is helping Clarkson to harvest crops but because of his thick West Country accent the Top Gear presenter was unable to understand him at all.
Gerald Cooper has stolen the show alongside Kaleb. Despite sharing the same surname the pair aren’t related
And in the end some of the crops were wasted because Clarkson couldn’t keep up.
In an interview with Farming Weekly, Clarkson admitted it was Gerald who originally inspired him to make the show.
‘He’s such a character, I knew he’d be great on TV,’ he said.
In 2021, Clarkson told the Oxford Mail: ‘It doesn’t matter if you can’t understand what he’s talking about, because he’s usually talking about Manchester United.
‘He’s fantastic. We’ve known each other for a very long time. He’s 72, also never been outside the village, but has worked on this farm for 50 years. He’s a great dry stone-waller, which is a dying art.’
CHARLIE IRELAND
Charlie is Clarkson’s land agent and adviser, who was hired in 2019 after the former Top Gear host first made the decision to run his own farm.
The University of Nottingham graduate is an agricultural specialist who advises the presenter on all aspects of farm management, from where to plant crops to managing the finances.
This role leads to him regularly having to tell Clarkson where he has gone wrong, leading to his ironic nickname of ‘Cheerful Charlie’.
Mr Ireland is a managing partner with Ceres Rural, an agricultural services firm in Saffron Waldon.
He previously worked as an agricultural consultant with Strutt & Parker for 20 years.
Charlie Ireland is an agricultural specialist who advises the presenter on all aspects of farm management, from where to plant crops to managing the finances
LISA HOGAN
Lisa is Jeremy’s girlfriend, and makes regular appearances on the show as the manager of the farm shop.
The Irish model, 49, is the ex-wife of multimillionaire Baron Steven Bentinck, and has previosuly jested that Jeremy ‘wears the trousers’ in their relationship.
She said: ‘We do have a really good relationship. Jeremy definitely wears the trousers but I’d like to think it’s fairly even, to be honest.’
Educated at the prestigious Alexandra College in Ireland, she got her big break in acting in the early 1990s, when John Cleese employed her as a researcher.
Jeremy kisses girlfriend Lisa Hogan as Kaleb awkwardly averts his eyes
She was later cast as a sea lion keeper in the 1997 comedy flick Fierce Creatures, starring alongside Cleese, Michael Palin and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Lisa was once referred to as Cleese’s muse, but denied any suggestion they were romantically involved, telling Irish Independent journalist Barry Egan: ‘We certainly didn’t have an affair. We were seen quite a lot but we used to work together. We got on well.’
In August 1997, Lisa – then aged 25 – had a near-death experience when her partner’s £1million private Lear jet crash-landed on the A40 dual-carriageway after it overshot the runway at RAF Northolt in London. Jeremy’s first marriage was to Alex Hall in 1989, however they split six months later when she left him for one of his friends.
In 1993, he married his manager Frances Cain and had children Emily, 28, Finlo, 25, and Katya, 23.
