It’s the pig one: Farmers Guide review of Clarkson’s Farm Season 3

Season two of Clarkson’s Farm was the most watched TV show exclusively from a steaming service – and it’s easy to see why. Jeremy Clarkson has transitioned from opinionated and outlandish motoring journalist to humble farmer trying to make a profit from his 1000-acre arable farm in Oxfordshire.

The first season was very much light-hearted with typical ‘Jeremy’ moments such as importing a huge Lamborghini tractor with the wrong hitch. But the first few episodes immediately brought attention to the life of a farmer, highlighting the dangers and costs involved everyday.

To counterbalance Jeremy’s lack of experience we met contractor Kaleb Cooper and advisor Charlie Ireland, both of whom take an increasingly prominent role as the episodes continue, and it’s certainly the case as in the latest series.

‘Farming the unfarmed’

Season three kicks off with a summary of the previous harvest, and how disappointing the results were : potatoes too small to harvest, sunflowers that hadn’t matured, poor echium yield and yet more problems with the local council.

The future doesn’t look much better, either. In fact, the only part of the farm that is profitable is honey from the bees.

This of course led Jeremy to come up with ideas of how to make the farm profitable, which sets the tone for season three; farming the unfarmed. Clarkson explains that the 1000-acre farm is 500 acres of arable and 500 acres of woods, wildflower meadows, hedgerows.

This of course leads to plenty of enjoyable, if not slightly painful, moments of trying to ‘easily’ harvest berries, which of course ends with a trailed harvester stuck on a stone wall, Jeremy and Lisa putting up wonky fencing, arguments between Jeremy and Kaleb while they try and rebuild a dam and even arguments with Charlie Ireland.

Farmers need to adapt

But Jeremy has a point, when there are difficulties with traditional farming methods, farmers need to think about adapting to other ways of making money on the farm during hard times. Another blow came as the farm restaurant was closed by the council, meaning he could no longer justify his cattle. He was sadly faced with sending them off, keeping just 12 calves for fattening.

While Jeremy left all arable operations to Kaleb, he quickly steps on his toes by bringing in Groove Armada’s Andy Cato and presenter George Lamb – who now run Wildfarmed, an organisation aimed at improving soil health while also producing profitable crops.

Jeremy agrees to a trial of wheat mixed with beans that complement each other during the growth period, as the beans put the required nitrogen into the soil. Harvested together, Wildfarmed will take the lot and sort at their cost, paying a premium. They sell to around 400 customers in the UK who want a sustainable product – from artisan bakeries to Marks & Spencer.

Since the first episode of Clarkson’s Farm, the celebrity farmer has bought cows, sheep, chickens, and has tried growing wasabi, as well as echium. So of course, next on the list is pigs.

Strongly advised by Charlie to invest in finishing pigs, Jeremy ignores all advice and opts for breeding sows, which of course leads to further issues as they all fall pregnant at the same time.

The plan was to keep the pigs in the woods, utilising the unfarmed land for profit, however it proves that Charlie was probably right due to the challenges of having piglets.  

Kaleb and Charlie are in charge

Throughout the season Charlie takes a noticeably more forceful approach, not shying away from telling Jeremy his thoughts, and even helping him manage products in the shop, where Lisa has a very ‘Irish attitude to rules’.

Kaleb, now as farm manager, takes more of a centre stage too, which only adds to the enjoyment as viewers continue to grow their love of his rural charm.

Ultimately Clarkson’s Farm is an entertainment show where dabbling in all types of livestock will not make for an easy or profitable enterprise, but it does give the general public an excellent insight into the challenges facing farmers across the UK.

Jeremy and his small team are managing to influence public opinion and perception, especially those of younger generations, who may never have set foot on a farm or understood that food doesn’t just appear on shelves. And he’s even made headway for all farmers in the Houses of Parliament as his frustrations over planning rules caught the attention of UK environment secretary Steve Barclay.

Love or loathe, it is the opinion of Farmers Guide that Jeremy Clarkson and his show are exactly what UK agriculture needs right now. Highlighting the struggles, as well as celebrating forgotten heroes – piglets included.

The first four episodes of Clarkson’s Farm will be released on 3^rd May through Amazon Prime Video. The following four episodes will be launched a week later on 10^th May.

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