Jeremy Clarkson is feeling deflated due to the impact of soaring temperatures on his farm.
The Clarkson’s Farm star, 66, bought his 1,000-acre farm in 2008 and began farming it in 2019, later opening a shop and wildly successful pub.
However, with nature playing a key role in the outcome of his work at Diddly Squat, he’s found the last few months particularly tough.
Taking to Instagram, Clarkson shared a screenshot of the weather forecast.
With today’s temperatures reaching 29C in Chipping Norton and remaining as high as 28C even at 5pm, next week also looks to be a warm one, as Monday promises 24C.
In his caption, the fed-up TV personality revealed that his harvest is ‘already f***ed’ in the aftermath of the driest July since records began 190 years ago.
‘May as well just enjoy it now,’ he added of the heat.
He was quickly inundated with messages of support, with fans praying for ‘desperately needed’ rain to improve matters for farmers and their wildlife.
‘I have felt for all farmers this year. What an awful time you have all had’, commented @wimblepoochies.
‘The whole country is thinking about your harvest’, said @danielle_hurley.
Brutal weather conditions have left farmers reeling nationwide, with punishingly long droughts contributing to financial losses and ultimately the decision to scale back planting, which could result in UK-grown shortages this autumn.
Farmers have also warned that this year’s harvest could be the worst on record, causing ‘shrinkflation’ in supermarkets.
Tim O’Malley, chairman of Nationwide Produce, told Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money it is ‘as bad as it’s ever been’, explaining that shoppers will likely encounter smaller vegetables at higher prices.
‘We’ve got crop with stress, or we’ve got quality issues. So you will see a smaller crop,’ he said.
Grocers are already having to import produce due to subpar conditions at home, with O’Malley saying importing broccoli and lettuce from Spain at this time of year is ‘unheard of’.
Clarkson himself was forced into a U-turn on his climate change dismissal after noticing how it was damaging his farm, telling The Guardian in 2024 that his past comments on Top Gear were ‘a joke’ and merely ‘part of the caricature’.
He’s long been famously open about the obstacles the farming industry faces, having publicly challenged the government two years ago over planning reforms, campaigning for farmers to convert agricultural buildings into houses and shops.
Speaking to The Independent ahead of Clarkson’s Farm’s fifth season this year, he stated that farming would be easier ‘if we had predictable weather and a sensible government’.
‘But because we have neither, it isn’t.’
‘It’s the same all over the world,’ he added. ‘We have farmers coming to the pub and the shop from everywhere. Australia, America, South Africa, Poland, Finland. They all say the same thing. Weather and government are the two problems.’
Still, Diddly Squat remains his passion project, as he wrote for The Sun last month that, even in scorching temperatures, there’s nowhere he’d rather be.
‘Some jobs on the farm are unpleasant. Sexing rabbits is annoyingly difficult, and disposing of dead piglets is heartbreaking,’ he began.
‘But I’ve been harvesting all week, and this job is an absolute joy.
‘I boing out of bed before dawn, knowing the moisture in the crops will be dead right, and then, from the tractor’s lofty seat, I watch the sun rise through the dust cloud being left in the combine’s wake. It’s a stunning sight.’
Clarkson insisted that he enjoys harvesting his fields, even though he doesn’t know how well his crops will turn out – and despite the 4am alarm.
‘Finally, you turn off the engines, and in the golden-hour silence that results, you crack open an ice-cold bottle of beer and gulp at it as the sun goes down,’ he added.
‘I’ve drunk beers in many exotic and beautiful locations over the years, but none of them match the beer you treat yourself to after a hard day’s harvesting.’