Clarkson Farm's Kaleb Cooper has opened up about the hardships of farming - and he said he pays himself as little as just 50p an hour.
The farmer, 24, who has become a hit on the Amazon Prime show for his impressive farming skills and no-nonsense approach to Jeremy's wacky agricultural ideas, recently branched out on his own by purchasing eight calves.
Speaking to the Performance People podcast, Kaleb, who runs a contracting business, revealed it has always been his dream to own and run his own farm. He said: "When I'm working for myself, when I'm feeding my calves, I bought eight calves, it's a little bit of a new business idea that I'm doing. And then you feed them on milk - which costs me about £200 a calf - and then selling them at nine months, trying to get a profit, trying to see if it will work you know."
He added: "But, I worked out the other day how much my hourly rate is. I pay myself 50p an hour so then I can make money. But if I put myself at £10 an hour I don't make money, I lose money on the calves."
The series documents former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's often bungled attempts at running his 1,000 acre 'Diddly Squat' farm in a sleepy village in the Cotswolds.
Kaleb is constantly coming to the rescue of Clarkson and is often featured telling the former Top Gear host that his farming ideas are idiotic. Despite this, the pair appear to have developed a close friendship and Kaleb's passion for farming is clear throughout.
“My main goal is by far to buy my own farm, you know, and then that is where the dream is,” Cooper explained. “The day I wake up on my own farm, walk out the front door and go ‘On that field there, I'm gonna plant wheat.’ Not because anyone tells me to because simply I want to. And then I can go right in that barn there, this year we're gonna go and get some pigs …and I'm going to try and make money out of that. That is when the dream is complete.”
Last year, Kaleb released his first book titled "The World According to Kaleb", which went on to become a Sunday Times Bestseller. In his book he shares his thoughts on big issues, fun facts about farming and lifts the lid on his ever-changing hairstyles.
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Clarkson's Farm has been a huge hit for Amazon Prime, with audience research group Barb reporting that 4.3 million people tuned in to watch the season 2 premiere. The lofty figures made it Amazon's highest-rated show since the company started reporting viewing figures in November 2021. Last week, the show garnered a larger audience than TV hits Love Island and the BRIT Awards.
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