Jeremy Clarkson has admitted that a major decision he recently made for Clarkson’s Farm has left his right-hand man, Kaleb Cooper, genuinely worried that he “might be out of a job”.
Kaleb became a breakout star when Clarkson took over the Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton, where the young farmer had already been working under the previous owner. Recognising his talent and no-nonsense attitude, Clarkson kept him on — a move that quickly proved invaluable. Kaleb soon became the heart of the show and Clarkson’s essential guide to the realities of farming, forming one of the most beloved duos on Prime Video.
However, Clarkson has now invested in something Kaleb “hates”: a driverless, fully autonomous tractor.
According to Clarkson, the new machine can drill or roll fields without human input, freeing him up to focus on other tasks. As he explained to The Times, preparing the 200 acres used for growing crops like pasta wheat and barley for lager is an enormous time sink.
“It normally takes 20 hours with a 3-metre cultivator just to prep the land,” he said. “Then another 10 hours to plant the seeds. That’s 30 hours of me bouncing around in a tractor going up and down endlessly.”
Clarkson admitted that despite five years of practice, he still isn’t great at it.
“I miss bits. I mess up turns. I hit gateposts. And most years, I spend hours rolling along without noticing the hopper is empty, meaning I’m planting absolutely nothing.”
By contrast, he noted, an autonomous tractor doesn’t get bored, doesn’t make silly mistakes, and doesn’t need sleep — or even to stop for a toilet break.
Kaleb was not impressed. Clarkson revealed: “Kaleb hates it. He says it’ll put him out of a job.”
Clarkson tried to reassure him, pointing out that if he used a driverless tractor on Diddly Squat, Kaleb could take paid work on another farm at the same time and essentially double his income. “He did agree I had a point,” Clarkson added.
Meanwhile, Kaleb continues to thrive in the spotlight brought by the show. He is set to host the New Entrant Award at the Young British Farmers Awards 2025, a testament to how influential he has become in the UK farming community.
His life has transformed dramatically since before the series. Kaleb previously revealed that he once earned as little as 50p an hour, due to the unpredictable nature of farming costs. Now, thanks to the success of Clarkson’s Farm, he has become a millionaire.
Away from the cameras, Kaleb shares two children — Oscar, three, and Willa, one — with his fiancée, Taya. In February, the couple announced they were expecting their third child, due in August, marking another major milestone in the young farmer’s rapidly evolving life.
