Jeremy Clarkson shares ‘disastrous’ update from Diddly Squat farm after seven months of lockdown battling TB outbreak

Jeremy Clarkson has shared a ‘disastrous’ update from his Diddly Squat farm after seven months of lockdown battling a TB outbreak.

The petrol head and former Grand Tour host, 65, confirmed last summer that his farm was facing issues with a TB outbreak and admitted that he was ‘absolutely devastated’.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic, infectious disease that primarily affects cattle. It is highly problematic for farmers because it causes slow, progressive wasting in animals, leads to mandatory culling, and results in significant financial losses.

Now, he has given an update on the farm in his column for The Sun, confirming that his Oxfordshire farm is now free of TB for the first time in seven months.

He wrote: ‘After seven months of lockdown, Diddly Squat farm became officially TB-free this week.’

But despite the good news on the TB front, Jeremy went on to confirm another shocking blow.

He continued: ‘But before we had a chance to celebrate, we found out that one of our donkeys has laminitis and must be put down.

‘In farming, it seems you are allowed one bit of good news, but it must always be accompanied by some kind of disaster.’

It comes after Jeremy’s fans were left quizzing the TV presenter turned farmer as he introduced his followers to a new arrival at his Diddly Squat farm.

He took to Instagram earlier this month to share a snap of a new family member, Ben, a donkey, telling fans to ‘welcome him to Diddly Squat’.

While many fans of Jeremy were quick to congratulate the star on his arrival and praise the ‘lovely’ and ‘dashing’ looking Donkey, others were quick to hit back.

One penned under the image on Instagram, worried for Ben’s welfare: ‘He is gorgeous but he needs a friend though. They don’t like to be alone…’

Another chimed in: ‘I hope you have another donkey for Ben, donkeys shouldn’t live on their own and other livestock aren’t suitable companions.’

‘This is true,’ a third person agreed, as a fourth wrote to Jeremy: ‘Does he have a donkey friend to live with? Very important!’

Shrugging off the backlash, Jeremy explained that they were aware of the needs of the animals to be part of a group, writing back: ‘Yes, we know that.’

The TV star, who has been a household name since joining the panel of Top Gear in 1988, has let cameras follow the highs and lows of his farming journey since he decided to start running his Oxfordshire farm Diddly Squat in 2019.

The hit series has so far run for four seasons, with a fifth soon to hit screens later this year and a sixth already confirmed to be in development.

Last month, Jeremy revealed that fans might have to wait longer for the new series because of the continual bad weather scuppering filming plans.

But it’s not just filming that the presenter has to worry about, warning he’s ‘got a very problematic year’ coming up in terms of making any profit from his farm.

Writing in his column in the Sunday Times, Jeremy revealed that he is not expecting to ‘make any money’ from the crops on animals at Diddly Squat.