Multi-millionaire Jeremy Clarkson’s farm raked in government and EU subsidies topping £250,000 in under three years.
Diddly Squat Farm, which features in the hit Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm, benefitted from two payments from The Rural Payments Agency.
Figures obtained using Environmental Information regulations reveal that the agency, part of DEFRA, awarded the business £133,733.01 under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), split across two payments in December 2021 and 2022.
In addition, the Cotswolds farm received £116,352 in four payments from May 2020 to December 2022 under the Environmental Stewardship (ES) scheme.
Last year, Clarkson – estimated to have a personal fortune of £50 million – claimed people “don’t pay enough for their food”.
Speaking during an interview with the News Agents podcast in November, Clarkson told the presenters Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel about economic problems faced by farmers and was asked if food prices should go up.
He replied “Yeah, they should. They should be double what they are.”
Clarkson, 63, who presents The Grand Tour on Amazon as well as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on ITV, bought his Oxfordshire farm in 2008.
The Amazon Prime show regularly shows the farm’s staff telling Clarkson he is being useless.
Its popularity attracts thousands of visitors to the Diddly Squat farm shop to buy products such as “Cow Juice”, rapeseed oil, chutneys and jams.
The RPA commented: “The Basic Payments Scheme (BPS) makes income support payments to farmers carrying out qualifying agricultural activities on eligible agricultural land that they own or hold as tenants.
“Now that we have left the EU, BPS is being phased out in favour of alternative schemes that will reward farmers directly for the public benefits that they provide.
“Agri-environmental schemes reward farmers and land managers for looking after and improving the environment - conserving and restoring wildlife habitats; maintaining good air and water quality; managing flood risk; creating and managing woodland and preserving historical features in the landscape.”
According to Defra, BPS payments have been fully funded by the UK government since 2021 and ES payments were fully funded by the EU from 2020-22.
In the finale of the first series of Clarkson’s Farm, the TV star pointed out – in reference to the farm’s finances – he had “worked bloody hard all year and my reward was £144”.
The former Top Gear presenter has won praise for showcasing British farming – he was named NFU’s 2021 “Farming Champion of the Year” at the Farmers Weekly Awards.
Clarkson’s assistant was contacted for comment.
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