A farming student has praised the backing she received from Clarkson's Farm star Kaleb Cooper, saying it will help her career immensely. Caitlin Oxton, 20, from Clifton in Bedfordshire, is one of the first recipients of a bursary launched by Mr Cooper to support those without an agricultural background.
The bursary provides £3,000 to help students explore different paths into agriculture, along with a work placement with Mr Cooper himself. Ms Oxton, a second-year Live Farm Management student at the Royal Agricultural University in Gloucestershire, said the financial and social support was invaluable.
Ms Oxton chose agriculture after deciding not to take A-levels, opting instead for an entry-level course at Shuttleworth College. She now works at dairy farm A G Burton in Silsoe and acknowledges the job is not easy, but she enjoys working outdoors with like-minded people.
She hopes the bursary will challenge stereotypes about farmers, noting she sometimes receives odd looks as a short female farmer. 'Even now I still get a few funny looks because I'm pretty short myself, so a tiny female farmer, so it's not very common,' she said.
Mr Cooper, 24, rose to fame on Amazon Prime Video's Clarkson's Farm, which follows Jeremy Clarkson's farming efforts in the Cotswolds. The bursary aims to help those who, like Mr Cooper, did not grow up in farming.
