Jeremy Clarkson has been forced to close his Diddly Squat Farm for two months after a tuberculosis (TB) outbreak among his cattle. The former Top Gear host announced the news on social media, describing the situation as 'dreadful'.
Clarkson revealed that routine testing detected bovine tuberculosis in his herd, leading to an immediate lockdown of the farm. He told Times Radio: 'It's awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blasé, it's a hypothetical threat. And then the vet looks up as he did yesterday lunchtime and said 'I'm really sorry this one's failed'.'
The closure will last at least eight weeks, as that is the minimum time before another test can be conducted. Clarkson confirmed that the farm shop remains unaffected, as only cattle are impacted by the disease.
In addition to the TB outbreak, Clarkson revealed that one of his puppies died overnight and a calf is seriously ill. 'Honestly, farming? I'm not enjoying it this week,' he added.
The news follows a separate incident involving Clarkson's farm manager, Kaleb Cooper, who reported the theft of a tractor and a post knocker. Cooper posted on social media: 'My post knocker was stolen last night, as well as the John Deere tractor.'
