Jeremy Clarkson says ‘farming is mainly about filling in forms’

For many, the idea of having your own farm conjures up romantic ideals of living off the land, freedom from city life and doing what you want. But Jeremy Clarkson has revealed much of this is obstructed by endless form filling.

Since swapping the fast cars and city life he was used to for a farm in the Cotswolds, the broadcaster says the joys of farming are blighted by paperwork.

“People think farming is about caring for the land, but it’s mainly about filling in forms to say how many broad beans we’re growing and how many sunflowers and potatoes we planted to the nearest centimetre or dealing with the soil police and the badger police,” he told The Times.

“Every type of police you can imagine: frog, water vole, water, fencing. Too many to count.”

Clarkson, whose show Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime has been a hit with viewers, has lamented the difficulties in making money from a farm. In one episode he revealed he had made just £144 working seven days a week for a year.

Among the obstacles to success is the lack of autonomy farmers have over their land, he says, along with effective farming methods now deemed environmentally unfriendly.

One example, he told the newspaper, is the use of chemical weed killers, which are seen as bad for the environment. The alternative is to plough in the weeds with a tractor. However, this releases carbon from the soil while consuming a lot of diesel, creating “a double climate change whammy”.

During an attempt to register his cattle in compliance with official rules, he said, he was left furious by its automated menu and gave up.

After spending £25,000 on paperwork to launch his restaurant, his plan was rejected.

At a meeting of West Oxfordshire District Council’s planning committee to discuss it one of the objections brought by one member was that it would bring extra light pollution, which would interfere with his personal stargazing.

Others said it would create more jobs.

“It’s nearly impossible to make money from farming these days,” he said.

“We have been told by the Government that to survive we must diversify. And now local government is saying we can’t. That has to be addressed, and soon, so that councils are encouraged or even ordered to cut farmers some slack.”