Farm star Kaleb Cooper spoke about the challenges farmers face post-Brexit, explaining how he can only pay 50p an hour. The 24-year-old farm contractor from Chipping Norton is best known for Clarkson’s Farm and recognized for his passion for farming, as well as his patient and hilarious approach to working with Jeremy Clarkson on Diddly Squat Farm.
However, since stepping into the spotlight, Kaleb decided to step out of Jeremy’s shadow and start his own company buying eight calves. The father-of-two explained that his dream is to be able to run his own farm in Oxford, but he also shared how difficult it is to be a farmer in Britain at the moment, the Daily Mirror reports.
While on the Performance People podcast hosted by Ben and Georgie Ainslie, Kaleb said: “When I work for myself, when I feed my calves, I buy eight calves, it’s a little new business idea I’ve got.” I’m making And then you feed them milk, which costs me about £200 per calf and then you sell them at nine months, trying to make a profit, trying to see if it’ll work, you know?
“But, I calculated the other day how much my hourly rate is. I pay myself 50 pence an hour so I can earn money. But if I get to £10 an hour, I don’t make money, I lose money on my calves.”
He continued: “My main goal is by far to buy my own farm, and that’s where the dream is. The day I wake up on my own farm, walk out the front door and say ‘In that field over there, I’m going to plant wheat.’
“Not because someone tells me to because I just want to. And then I can go straight to that barn there, this year we’re going to go get some pigs…and I’m going to try to make money off of that.” That’s when the dream is complete.”
Last year, Kaleb released his first book titled “The World According to Kaleb.” In his book, he shared his thoughts on big topics, fun facts about farming, and his ever-changing hairstyles. The book became hugely popular and a Sunday Times bestseller, with many readers enjoying Kaleb’s amusing opinions and rants.
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