Jeremy Clarkson's farming show has a lot of fans who are real farmers – but some of them have spotted a basic mistake he keeps making regarding how his animals are looked after. Clarkson's Farm sees the ex-Top Gear presenter chaotically attempt to run his thousand acre Diddly Squat farm.
The show has been praised by many farmers for how it has highlighted the struggles of an industry facing an uncertain future and costly overheads. Whether they love or hate the controversial TV star, many in the farming community feel the programme is drawing much needed attention to the difficulty they face in keeping their businesses alive.
However, recently farmers have been calling out a mistake being made by Jeremy's right-hand man, Kaleb Cooper, Metro reports. They have taken issue with the way the young farmer is attaching the cows' ear tags.
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In a farming forum, one cattle farmer said: “Like many I am really enjoying Jeremy Clarkson’s new series and taking my time to make it last lol. However am I the only one noticing #kalebcooper putting the calves eartags in the wrong way round.”
Another agreed: “Not [the] only one. I noticed that too.” And a third wrote: “I said to the other half he put the tags in backwards.”
However, others defended the Who Wants to be a Millionaire host, saying there's “no right and wrong way” to attach ear tags, with some adding that by doing it the “wrong” way around you can actually see what you're attaching easier.
One farmer commented: “At least they are in the ear, not missing or ripped. Some folks have too much time.”
Ear tags are attached to each ear of a every calf when they are born. It is a legal requirement which helps to identify each animal and prevent and control the outbreak of disease.
There are two tags in case one comes off, as they sometimes do. The 'female' side of the tag should be on the inside of the ear and the 'male' part on the outside – the opposite to the way Kaleb was doing it.
Farmers pointed out that this makes tags less likely to come off as the more bulky part isn't so exposed to the outside world where it could snag on things, such as a fence or bush. The Farming Advisory Service recommends: “When using plastic tags the female part should be on the inside/front of the ear with the male part entering from the back of the ear.”
So the farming community was right to call out the show on its mistake. Others complained that some “activities” in the show are infuriating to watch, claiming they are made more clunky for entertainment value.
It comes after another star of Clarkson's Farm was left in shock when fans raised tens of thousands of pounds following a TB outbreak among her herd of 60 cows. Emma Ledbury had spoken on the show about her struggles after half of her animals were wiped out by tuberculosis.
A fan of the show set up a GoFundMe page to help the farmer, and within just a couple of weeks it had raised more than £34,000. Emma told Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch how she had been “overwhelmed” by the support she had received.
Shortly before the new Clarkson's Farm series arrived on Amazon, Clarkson hit the headlines when he wrote a hate-filled comment piece in The Sun about the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle. He said he hated her on a “cellular level” and dreamed of her being publicly humiliated.
Many people slammed the column – which used grotesque imagery – as misogynistic and racist, prompting the Independent Press Standards Organisation (ISPO) to launch an investigation. The newspaper and Clarkson both later apologised.
Even Clarkson's daughter publicly criticised the piece. Emily Clarkson, 28, wrote on social media: “ I want to make it very clear that I stand against everything that my dad wrote about Meghan Markle and I remain standing in support of those that are targeted with online hatred.”
The presenter admitted his piece was “horrible” and said he was sorry “from the balls of my feet to the follicles on my head”, adding that he had written to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to apologise personally. He claimed: “I’m just not sexist and I abhor violence against women.”
Despite the controversy, the premier of series two of Clarkson's Farm was watched by nearly 4.3million viewers, according to Barb. That beats Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which premiered last September and drew in an audience of 3.2million.
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