Jeremy Clarkson tells of ‘disastrous’ time at Diddly Squat farm: ‘A worry for anyone who eats food’

TV star said there would be ‘wailing and gnashing of teeth’ if a similar scale disaster had affected ‘any other industry’

Jeremy Clarkson has admitted that funds amassed from his hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm are keeping his Diddly Squat farm alive, after a “disastrous” harvest.

The 1,000-acre holding in Oxfordshire is at the heart of his hugely popular Prime Video series, which follows the presenter’s journey as a new farmer and the challenges he faces along the way.

But, in an ironic twist, without the show’s ratings success, there would be nothing to run, with Clarkson stating: “Most farms don’t have TV shows to keep them going.”

The TV star addressed the show’s success while lamenting this year’s terrible harvest.

He wrote on X/Twitter on Friday (8 August): “It looks like this year’s harvest will be catastrophic. That should be a worry for anyone who eats food.

“If a disaster on this scale had befallen any other industry, there would be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

When one fan told him that this particular “drama” will make “good TV” in a future episode of Clarkson’s Farm, the former Top Gear star replied: “Yes. But most farms don’t have TV shows to keep them going.”

Jeremy Clarkson in hit Prime Video series ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ (Prime Video)

He also said there would “not be a cat in hell’s chance” of the farm surviving if he hadn’t extended his business empire by taking over rural country pub The Windmill in Asthall – a “village boozer” on five acres of countryside near Burford.

The host, who until recently co-presented The Grand Tour for the streamer, reportedly struck a £160m deal for three seasons of Clarkson's Farm in 2020.

Since then, the show has become one of Prime Video’s most-watched titles, and a fourth season aired earlier this year.

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Clarkson’s comments arrives after he revealed Diddly Squat farm had been hit with an outbreak of bovine tuberculosis.

He has since been left unable to buy or sell cows for two months “because that’s how long we have to wait before we do another test”.

Jeremy Clarkson suggests he wouldn’t be able to run farm without Prime Video series (XTwitter)

Bovine TB (bTB) is a chronic respiratory disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis. The disease can be catastrophic for farmers, and forces the culling of infected cattle. Due to a bTB incident in England between October 2021 and September 2022, 22,934 cows were killed.

The disease, which can also infect badgers, deer, goats and pigs, is the biggest challenge facing the farming industry today.

Clarkson bought the now-famous land in 2008 and, after the villager who ran the farm retired in 2019, he decided to see if he could run it himself – a venture tracked in Clarkson’s Farm.

This outbreak of bTB is the latest setback for Diddly Squat farm, which has already weathered a year of climate-driven disasters.

Earlier this month, Clarkson gave a worrying update on the future of his farm. He called 2025 the “worst year ever”, citing a “shocking” harvest due to heatwaves and drought in the UK.