It may be a stretch to say that everyone’s favorite bombastic Brit petrolhead-turned-farmer is saving UK farming, but he certainly seems to have drawn attention to its post-Brexit, regulation-strangled plight.
“In 2008, during the peak of Top Gear, Jeremy bought a thousand acres of land and farm called Curdle Hill Farm in Oxfordshire England, near Chipping Norton in the Cotswalds. The land came up for sale during the 2008 financial crash and was going for a lot cheaper than usual. When I say ‘cheaper,’ I mean £4.25 million.”
Clarkson: “The truth of the matter was that land almost never comes up for sale around here, and 2008 was the big financial crash, and this came up for sale, and I just thought ‘nobody’s making more land,’ so many people are moving out from London. But it was a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot less then, so I just thought ‘may as well get it.'”
Also for something to leave to his children, since you don’t pay estate taxes on agricultural land.
The guy Clarkson was paying to farm the land for him retired in 2019. That and Flu Manchu gave birth to Jeremy Clarkson, Novice Farmer and newly rechristened Diddly Squat Farm.
I’m going to skip over the details of his farmhouse renovation…
…and note that the new house has a basement theater, among other amenities, so he’s not exactly roughing it.
“Due to the weather, the farm’s crops brought in £90,000 less than the previous year, leaving them with only a profit of £144.”
“When the show released the following year Clarkson’s Farm became the most watched Prime Video Original Series in the UK.” It’s also been at the top of the ratings heap in the U.S. as well, getting much better ratings than things like The Rings of Power, which has to be something like one or even two orders of magnitude more expensive to film.
Clarkson: “What’s happening to farming in this country is ethnic cleansing. That’s a strong thing to say, but it sort of is happening. The government is trying, really, to drive farmers off their land.”
“In five years, the subsidies, the grants, are stopping, so farms have to think of new ways of making money.”
Another farmer: “Most farmers like me are 66 years old. We’re throwing in the towel. Let’s just take the government money. It won’t be our problem if people starve.”
“We’ve been paid to grow wild flowers. We need to have food produced and made in the UK, but people say well we can import from aboard. The same madness is happening in Europe, they’re asking farmers to plant wild flowers instead of food.” This appears to be done under a Sustainable Farming Incentive program, which offers subsidies for “Flower-rich grass margins, blocks, or in-field strips” and “Herbal leys.”
One of the continuing plotlines on Clarkson’s Farm is how the local council opposes every single one of Clarkeson’s money-making farm enhancements in the name of “tradition,” from a farm shop selling locale produce to a restaurant using the farm’s ingredients. This makes for great TV, but I can only imagine how difficult such a battle would be for a farmer without Clarkeson’s fame and resources.
“Clarkson has done more for the farming community to bring attention to their case with just two seasons than any farming organization has done in decades.”
“Farmers across the world have praised the show for highlighting the struggles they have to go through.”
“The many bases that this show covers is pretty incredible, from animal conservation, bureaucratic jargon, climate change, and just generally detailing how difficult it is to run a farm, especially in these current times.”
“It’s educated the masses about an industry that gets easily neglected, despite its glaringly obvious necessity.”
Someone needs to save farmers, not just in the UK but here as well, from the global warming fanatics who would drive them out of business.
Just finished season 3 of “Clarkson’s Farm” last night. There were a couple of times Jeremy had to adjust his price on goods to cover unexpected costs. Jeremy is lucky Judge Engoron isn’t on the Chipping Norton council.
“‘We’ve been paid to grow wild flowers. We need to have food produced and made in the UK, but people say well we can import from aboard. The same madness is happening in Europe, they’re asking farmers to plant wild flowers instead of food.’”
Thomas Malthus famously predicted that population increase, which grew exponentially, would outstrip food production, which was arithmetically limited, resulting in a mass die off from starvation.
The Green Revolution, beginning mid-20th Century, was led by the development of genetically superior cereal grains, which increased food production exponentially, while contraception simultaneously slowed population growth. An equilibrium of sorts was reached and Thomas Malthus was proved to be in error.
This abundance ought to be cause for celebration. The paradisiacal image of agricultural increase is envisioned by the antiMalthusian prophet Amos: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper, And the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed; When the mountains will drip grape juice, and all the hills* will be dissolved.”
*dirt hills “made flat” to promote agricultural
Alas, it seems there is always a serpent in Paradise. To wit: Marxist exploitation theory necessitates the existence of a large number of victims, such as the proletariat being continuously pushed toward impoverishment and starvation by the greedy capitalist bogeyman.
So if agricultural output becomes abundant, Marxist agitation has no lever with which to stir discontent among the masses. A communist revolution is made more difficult What is the solution to this Leftist dilemma? They have invented their own version of MAGA. Make Agriculture Grueling Again!
Push society back to its preindustrial roots. It’s good for the environment! True, billions will starve but you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. Of course eggs will become too scarce to locate so it will be necessary to crack a few skulls instead…
BTW, no one would have to *pay* me to grow wildflowers. It is a rewarding hobby. Among my favorite cultivars are Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Solomon’s Seal and Lily of the Valley.
The really amazing thing is just how much of this conscious destruction of working things is taking place right out in the open, with the masses clapping their hands on cue, as they can’t seem to connect all those nice “Green” things they vote for with the rise of their food costs…
Acquaintance of the family was bemoaning how she couldn’t afford bacon, any more. They’re from California, so I asked “How’d you vote on Proposition 12?”, to which she replied “Oh, I voted for it, of course…”
Here’s your sign, dumbass. “I’m a stupid-stupid sow who can’t connect cause with effect” written all over it…
If you’re planning for large numbers of the population to die off, you don’t really need so many farms. Just sayin’.
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/05/12/climatge-professor-thinks-we-should-cull-the-human-population-to-reach-emissions-targets-n4928981
Just finished season 3 of “Clarkson’s Farm” last night. There were a couple of times Jeremy had to adjust his price on goods to cover unexpected costs. Jeremy is lucky Judge Engoron isn’t on the Chipping Norton council.
“‘We’ve been paid to grow wild flowers. We need to have food produced and made in the UK, but people say well we can import from aboard. The same madness is happening in Europe, they’re asking farmers to plant wild flowers instead of food.’”
Thomas Malthus famously predicted that population increase, which grew exponentially, would outstrip food production, which was arithmetically limited, resulting in a mass die off from starvation.
The Green Revolution, beginning mid-20th Century, was led by the development of genetically superior cereal grains, which increased food production exponentially, while contraception simultaneously slowed population growth. An equilibrium of sorts was reached and Thomas Malthus was proved to be in error.
This abundance ought to be cause for celebration. The paradisiacal image of agricultural increase is envisioned by the antiMalthusian prophet Amos: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, “When the plowman will overtake the reaper, And the one who treads grapes will overtake him who sows the seed; When the mountains will drip grape juice, and all the hills* will be dissolved.”
*dirt hills “made flat” to promote agricultural
Alas, it seems there is always a serpent in Paradise. To wit: Marxist exploitation theory necessitates the existence of a large number of victims, such as the proletariat being continuously pushed toward impoverishment and starvation by the greedy capitalist bogeyman.
So if agricultural output becomes abundant, Marxist agitation has no lever with which to stir discontent among the masses. A communist revolution is made more difficult What is the solution to this Leftist dilemma? They have invented their own version of MAGA. Make Agriculture Grueling Again!
Push society back to its preindustrial roots. It’s good for the environment! True, billions will starve but you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. Of course eggs will become too scarce to locate so it will be necessary to crack a few skulls instead…
BTW, no one would have to *pay* me to grow wildflowers. It is a rewarding hobby. Among my favorite cultivars are Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Solomon’s Seal and Lily of the Valley.
The really amazing thing is just how much of this conscious destruction of working things is taking place right out in the open, with the masses clapping their hands on cue, as they can’t seem to connect all those nice “Green” things they vote for with the rise of their food costs…
Acquaintance of the family was bemoaning how she couldn’t afford bacon, any more. They’re from California, so I asked “How’d you vote on Proposition 12?”, to which she replied “Oh, I voted for it, of course…”
Here’s your sign, dumbass. “I’m a stupid-stupid sow who can’t connect cause with effect” written all over it…