Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper reveals he earns just 50p an hour through farming

Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper has revealed he only pays himself 50p an hour after finding fame on the Amazon Prime Video series.

The farm hand, 24, was catapulted into the spolight last year starring on the docuseries which follows Jeremy Clarkson as he faces the day-to-day challenges to running his 1,000-acre Oxfordshire farm, Diddly Squat.

Although enjoying his new found fame, Cooper revealed the dire reality of his farming salary after starting a new cattle business.

Speaking on Ben and Georgie Ainslie’s Performance People podcast, he said: “When I’m working for myself, when I’m feeding my calves in the morning – I bought eight calves, it’s like a little bit of a new business idea that I’m doing, buying calves in and then feed them on milk, which costs me about £200 a calf, then selling them at nine months.

“[I’m] trying to get a profit [and] see if it will work.

“I worked it out the other day, do you know how much my hourly rate is, how much I pay myself? 50p an hour.”

Cooper also opened up about the struggles of farming in the current cost of living crisis, and explained that it’s “incredibly hard” for both contractors and the industry.

He shared: “Diesel, for example, was 32p per litre last year. It’s now £1.20.

“And as a contractor, I can’t really put my prices up because the farmers go, ‘Christ, I can’t really afford it.’”

Cooper’s frankness about the farming industry comes after Prime Video announced Clarkson’s farming docuseries would be returning for a third series last month.

Since its launch 18 months ago, the series has turned out to be one of the streaming service’s most popular programmes – much to Clarkson’s delight.

Clarkson said of the news: “I’m genuinely thrilled that we are doing a third season of Clarkson’s Farm. I’ve had some great new ideas, all of which have made Charlie, Lisa, and Kaleb deeply unhappy.”

Production has so far teased that viewers can expect “more agricultural antics and typical Clarkson-crafted schemes, as the team invent new and creative ways to use the other half of the farm”.