The deadpan banter between TV stalwart Jeremy Clarkson and his farming sidekick Kaleb Cooper, bickering over tractors, muckspreading and money-making possibilities at Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, has drawn millions to the hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm.
Behind the cameras there is real affection and camaraderie, agrees 26-year-old Cooper, who was unwittingly thrown into the spotlight in the first series in 2021 as the young farming contractor who may not be worldly wise (he’s never been out of the country and doesn’t possess a passport) but knows more than most about working the land.
Cooper, a Chipping Norton local, clearly greatly values their friendship.
“I consider him (Clarkson) as a best mate. We tell each other everything. I tell him everything. We text every day.”
The young entrepreneurial farmer has just written his third book, It’s A Farming Thing, a part-autobiographical, part tongue-in-cheek read in which he discusses many aspects of life including farming, food and fashion, but also revealingly charts how farming saved him, following his parents’ ‘tricky’ divorce when he was 12.
His younger brother Kieron went to live with his father, a carpenter, while Kaleb stayed with his mother, who set up a mobile dog-grooming business. He had to grow up quickly.
“My mum and dad split up and that’s the reason I’m the person I am today. My mum was struggling to pay the rent, so therefore I stood up and went, ‘I’m going to be the man of this house, help you pay the electric, gas and part of the rent and if you need money for petrol, I’ll pay for that as well’.
“It made me think outside the box and become entrepreneurial.”
At 13 he set up an egg business after she bought him three chickens. He sold the eggs locally around Chipping Norton, worked out he could sell an egg for 25p, making around 10p profit per egg. Within two months, he had about 450 chickens.
Cooper progressed to buying three sheep (he hates sheep, but sold legs of lamb alongside his eggs) and bought his first tractor at the age of 15. He virtually dropped out of school, paying the £50-a-week fine his mum received for his non-attendance.
Eventually the young entrepreneur returned to take his GCSEs, always going in on a Friday because his best customer base was his teachers and he could earn more money selling 17 dozen eggs over six hours in school than he could for an equivalent period elsewhere.
“I learned so much about maths and English from doing my own thing at a young age. I could have been a spoilt little brat if farming hadn’t come along and swallowed me up. I owe my life to farming.”
The father-of-two has guided Clarkson through the ups and downs of agriculture, the weather implications, the husbandry and harvesting requirements. In turn, Clarkson has mentored him through the world of TV.
When Cooper embarked on a 33-date tour of his first one-man show, The World According To Kaleb, earlier this year, Clarkson was behind him all the way. The show will be streamed on Prime Video on November 29.
He recalls Clarkson coming backstage after the first half.
“He gave me a great big hug and he went, ‘Well done, my boy, I’m so proud of you’. I’m sure he had a tear in his eye at one point.”
The fourth series of Clarkson’s Farm is almost in the can and Cooper believes their friendship will be longlasting, with or without TV.
“What makes us have a really good friendship is the fact that if we have an argument – and of course we have a lot – 10 minutes after that big argument one of us will go, ‘Do you want a cup of tea?’ or ‘Are we going to have a pint down the pub tonight?’ There’s no holding a grudge for four days before someone says, ‘Sorry’. We have an argument and after that, we’re fine.”
So how does he rate Clarkson as a farmer now?
“I want to be nice here,” he says carefully, smiling. “But part of me is saying he’s still a trainee. He’s getting there, though. We’re five years in the game now and if you haven’t picked up on certain things from five years in an industry, you’re probably in the wrong industry.”
Cooper remains reluctant to get himself a passport.
“In my head I’m thinking I want to stay at home. If my tyre pops, I know where to get it fixed. If I have a bad leg, I know which doctor to see and if I need to get shopping I know where to go.”
He shrugs when asked how fame has affected his life.
“I wouldn’t say my life changed in any sort of way,” he offers. “I mean, I still spend the majority of time on the tractor and when we are filming Clarkson’s Farm I’m still doing my day job. If I’m combining (combine harvesting) or cultivating, they’re filming.”
Last year he and Clarkson’s Farm cohort, land agent and adviser Charlie Ireland, visited the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street to discuss how to get young people into farming and how farmers can be better supported through subsidies and grants.
“To be importing all this food may be cheaper but is it actually more healthy for us? I don’t believe so. We need to look after farmers. There are so many whose morale is so far down at the moment. We’ve had three years on the trot of poor conditions and poor yields and I think a lot of farmer are going to go bust.”
Now, with a new government, he says: “I want Labour (politicians) to go to a farm and sit down with that farmer and just feel the morale around these farms.”
Fatherhood – he has two children, Oscar, three and Willa, 16 months – has changed him, he says.
“I’ve been with Taya (his partner) for eight years and I always said I wanted to be a young dad, so that when I get to age 40 I can go to the pub with my kids, or might be running my business and have them join so we can work together.”
He says he doesn’t want any more children. “As you know, pigs go out there and have 10. Can you imagine looking after 10 babies? Devastating.”
He hopes his children would follow in his footsteps, although he wouldn’t push them to.
“I just want them to know that if they ever become an accountant and move to London, I’m never going to visit them, ever.”
He’d like to do another tour but doesn’t see that happening imminently as he’s too busy with farming.
“I have a couple of little goals for myself. I love David Attenborough so therefore I really want to do a David Attenborough-type show.”
What about reality TV?
“I’ve always joked about doing I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! but of course I haven’t got a passport yet and I’m not brave enough to go anywhere. I don’t think I can see myself on Strictly. My body’s not designed to be dancing, it’s designed to be farming.”
It’s A Farming Thing by Kaleb Cooper is published by Quercus, priced £20. Available now
The World According To Kaleb: On Tour can be seen on Prime Video from Friday, Nov 29
