How Clarkson’s Farm breakout Kaleb Cooper became a millionaire

Farming contractor rose to prominence as Jeremy Clarkson’s sidekick

Jeremy Clarkson’s farmer sidekick Kaleb Cooper is now a millionaire after finding success on the Amazon show Clarkson’s Farm.

Cooper, 26, rose to prominence in 2021 after Clarkson purchased the Diddly Squat farm in Chipping Norton, where Cooper already worked under the previous owner.

Cooper was kept on by Clarkson and quickly became his right-hand man as he showed the Top Gear star the ropes of running a working farm.

According to account filed on 5 March, Kaleb Cooper Productions, the company that takes his earnings from the series, reported £960,000 in assets before bills, including £400,000 in cash.

He set up his TV company in 2021 and runs it alongside farming businesses K Cooper Contracting and K Cooper Holdings, with combined profits amounting to £100,000, meaning Cooper has now made his first million.

Cooper has been basking in the success of the Amazon programme – last year, he took his solo live show about his life, called The World According to Kaleb, on tour around the UK. He has also written several books, including It’s a Farming Thing, Britain According to Kaleb and The World According to Kaleb.

Kaleb had previously revealed that he was earning just 50 pence an hour due to the unpredictable nature of farming costs and profit margins.

In 2022, he said: “When I’m working for myself when I’m feeding my calves in the morning – I bought eight calves. It’s like a little bit of a new business idea that I’m doing, buying calves in and then feed them on milk, which costs me about £200 a calf, then selling them at nine months.”

Kaleb Cooper (left) and Jeremy Clarkson in ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ (Prime Video)

He added: “I’m trying to get a profit and see if it will work. I worked it out the other day, do you know how much my hourly rate is, how much I pay myself? 50p an hour.”

However, since being featured on Clarkson’s show, Cooper’s farming skills have been recognised by the nation. Clarkson previously praised the farmer as “the hardest working person I know” and pointed out that Cooper sometimes worked 18 hours a day with no days off.

Cooper, who shares two children – Oscar, three, and Willa, one – with fiancée Taya, previously revealed that his life ambition is to own a farm. The pair announced in February that they were expecting their third child together in August.

Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb Cooper in ‘Clarkson’s Farm' (Prime Video)

Cooper wrote online: “Very excited to announce that baby Cooper number 3 is cooking…. Going to be a very very busy August.”

The fourth series of Clarkson’s Farm, Prime Video’s most-streamed show, is currently in production, with a fifth also greenlit.

A key part of the show is the banter between Cooper and Clarkson, who constantly bicker over the decision-making at the Diddly Squat farm.

Speaking about their dynamic, Cooper previously told PA media: “Our chemistry is completely natural. We’re really good friends, apart from the arguing – we may stop talking to each other for a day or two after our argument, but that’s completely normal, we’re used to that.”

“Eventually, we come together and have a cup of tea and we’re fine again, we keep talking about farming.”