Jeremy Clarkson seriously considered selling off his Diddly Squat farm after this year's wet summer led to a terrible harvest.
Jeremy Clarkson considered giving up on farming after this year's terrible summer
The former 'Top Gear' host has been focusing on farming in recent years after buying up an estate in the Cotswolds and his antics have been documented in Amazon TV series 'Clarkson's Farm' - but the TV star has admitted he almost gave up after realising months of rain and soaring production costs means he's unlikely to make any money from the business again this year.
In his column for The Times newspaper, he explained: "In 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."
Clarkson revealed he spent around £40,000 on seeds, fertiliser and sprays last year, but those costs rose to around £110,000 in 2023 while a cold spring and wet summer has ruined his barley crop.
He has also faced a challenge with his pigs as the local abattoir has closed and he now needs to make a three-hour round-trip to get them to slaughter - and the mounting issues left him debating whether to walk away from his beloved farm.
Clarkson added: "I've tried farming conventionally and it didn't work. I've tried diversifying and that hasn't really worked either. And 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. I could sell the farm and earn far more from the interest than I do from growing bread and beer and vegetable oil.”
He added it would be "heartbreaking" to part with his farm and spent a week pondering what to do, but the decision ended up being made for him.
The presenter explained: "On Friday night my land agent, Cheerful Charlie, dropped in for a cup of tea and announced he'd bought all the fertiliser we'd need for the next nine months and that Kaleb was already out there drilling cover crops ... So there we are. The farming circle has begun all over again."
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