A bold new move by Jeremy Clarkson has triggered a fresh Clarkson’s Farm controversy, leaving his farming partner Kaleb Cooper fearing for his job.
Jeremy Clarkson’s latest decision sparks concern
Clarkson, known for shaking things up on his Diddly Squat farm, has invested in a driverless tractor — a move he says will boost productivity. The machine can autonomously handle drilling and rolling tasks that previously consumed hours of manual labour.
“It normally takes 20 hours with a 3m cultivator to prepare the 200 acres we use every year for growing pasta and lager,” Clarkson told The Times. “And then it takes about 10 hours to plant the actual seeds. That’s 30 hours of me just sitting there, in a bouncy tractor, going up and down endlessly.”
He admitted, “Even though I’ve now had five years of practice, I’m still not very good at it… I hit gateposts and most years I bounce along for hours, not realising that the hopper is empty and I’m busy planting nothing at all.”
Clarkson explained the tech’s appeal: “An autonomous tractor would not make mistakes like this, and it would not get bored. It doesn’t need to stop for a wee and it does not need to sleep.”
While the technology promises efficiency, it’s caused real worry for Kaleb Cooper. “Kaleb hates it. He says it’ll put him out of a job,” Clarkson revealed.
But Clarkson countered, suggesting Cooper could take his manual tractor skills to other farms and “get paid twice.” “He did agree I had a point,” Clarkson added.
The rise of Kaleb Cooper
Cooper, a local lad from Chipping Norton, was working the land long before Clarkson bought Diddly Squat. When the Amazon series launched in 2021, Cooper quickly became a breakout star, equal parts straight-talker and farming know-it-all.
Despite his newfound fame, Cooper’s past reminds fans of farming’s harsh realities. At one point, he earned just 50 pence an hour due to unstable profit margins. Today, he’s a millionaire.
He and his fiancée, Taya, share two children — Oscar, three, and Willa, one — and are expecting their third child in August.
Meanwhile, Clarkson, whose growing farming empire and Amazon success have bolstered the Jeremy Clarkson net worth significantly, shows no signs of slowing down or shying away from change.
What does this mean for the future of farming
This Clarkson’s Farm controversy underscores a broader dilemma in British agriculture:
- Should farms embrace automation?
- What happens to skilled workers like Kaleb?
Clarkson’s Farm is no stranger to drama, but this latest shift raises questions about technology’s role in rural Britain. As the tension plays out on and off-screen, one thing is clear — the future of farming might be driverless, but it won’t be drama-free.
