Jeremy Clarkson has unexpectedly revealed to fans that he almost decided to sell off his famous Diddly Squat farm earlier this year.
The former Top Gear presenter, 64, opened the farm in 2020 and during summer 2021 he started Clarkson’s Farm, an Amazon documentary series.
Jeremy Clarkson has worked hard at Diddly Squat – but he nearly gave it all up (Picture: AP)
But he’s now revealed that he almost gave it all up after 2023’s particularly rainy summer resulted in a terrible harvest and almost closed the farm for good.
Months of rain and soaring production costs at the farm have likely resulted in Clarkson not making any profit this year, giving him second thoughts.
Reflecting on Diddly Squat, he said: ‘My first year of farming I made a profit of £114. That will look like a dream result when I get the figures for this year.’
In his column for The Times, he explained that he spent £40,000 on seeds, fertiliser, and sprays – that bill nearly tripled because of 2023’s weather.
On top of that, Clarkson revealed that a local abattoir has closed down, meaning that it now takes three hours to escort pigs there and return to the farm.
Speaking about attempting to raise profits, he said: ‘I tried farming conventionally, it didn’t work. I’ve tried diversifying and that hasn’t really worked either.’
‘I’ve tried with sheep and pigs and cows and that has been a bit of a disaster as well. So I arrived at a crossroads and was not sure which way to turn.’
Clarkson said he was ready to give it up until he was informed that all the fertiliser he needed for the next nine months had already been purchased.
Remarking that ‘the farming circle has begun all over again,’ he said that having the decision made for him helped him step back from a ‘heartbreaking’ choice.
Last month, the Top Gear trio of Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond reunited for a photo to tease a new season of their current show, The Grand Tour.
It was originally reported that Amazon had parted ways with Clarkson after his controversial column about Meghan Markle, but production now appears to be under way.
