Jeremy Clarkson has abandoned traditional farming at his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire, turning to rabbit breeding and market gardening as rising costs make conventional farming “impossible” to profit from
Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he’s been compelled to step back from “real farming” due to escalating expenses. The 66-year-old maintains it’s currently “impossible” to generate profit within the agricultural sector.
This development follows his need to diversify revenue streams at his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. The former ‘Top Gear’ presenter has recently ventured into rabbit breeding as an alternative income source.
He attributes the challenging circumstances to soaring costs for fertiliser and red diesel, essential for tractors and farm equipment, which have created a critical predicament for farmers nationwide.
Jeremy describes how he’s been relegated to “market gardening” while attempting to extract some earnings from the financially struggling farm. In conversation with the Sunday Times, he stated: “Honestly, we’re not doing any real farming this year.”
Elaborating further, he said: “There’s rabbits and market gardening – basically growing herbs for the farm shop – and that’s it. There’s no point. It’s impossible to make money.”
Jeremy warns the circumstances will deteriorate further for farmers next year when the UK introduces a carbon tax on fertiliser. He notes the sole profitable crop on his farm this year has been oil seed rape, clarifying that’s “because it’s an oil product”, reports the Express.
The Yorkshire-born presenter says he’s always harboured a “love of rural life”. However, his transition towards farming truly accelerated in 2019, when the tenant at what was then Curdle Hill Farm retired.
Jeremy originally acquired the 1,000-acre estate, which encompassed the farm, back in 2008. Finding himself without anyone to manage the property, Jeremy chose to take matters into his own hands and dive in.
His agricultural adventure became the subject of Amazon Prime Video’s hugely popular series Clarkson’s Farm. Initially commissioned with a modest budget, the programme is now gearing up for its fifth series launch.
The show achieved near-immediate acclaim following its 2021 debut, catapulting its personalities—including farmhand Kaleb Cooper, Jeremy’s girlfriend Lisa Hogan, and land agent Charlie Ireland—into household names. While Amazon doesn’t publish viewing statistics, reports indicate it was watched 4.3 million times.
However, there’s been a conspicuous absence of promotional activity surrounding the upcoming series. Amazon has even suggested that circumstances may have occurred which would render a media blitz inappropriate.
When questioned by The Sunday Times, Jeremy remained tight-lipped, stating “you’ll see” what unfolds, while confirming: “We’re not doing any press on it.”
The series will nonetheless track Jeremy as he manages both the farm and The Farmer’s Dog, a dilapidated Oxfordshire pub he acquired. He attributes the pub’s flourishing trade to his “tricky” commitment to exclusively serving British produce.
This dedication led him to rear rabbits after a premium West Midlands butcher revealed they sourced everything domestically apart from rabbit meat, which came from France. The revelation inspired Jeremy to begin farming rabbits for meat production.
