Jeremy Clarkson has admitted he is facing a fresh farming nightmare at Diddly Squat Farm, saying he is 'genuinely scared' as this year's harvest is put at risk by dangerously dry grain. Writing in his column for The Sun, the 66-year-old Clarkson's Farm star explained that after years of worrying about grain being too wet, he now faces the opposite problem: the crop is so dry that a single spark could destroy an entire year's work.
From Wet to Dry: A New Threat
Clarkson wrote: 'Since I started farming seven years ago, the harvest has always been a nail-biting affair because you have to stop when the grain is too wet. Drizzle, dew and even humidity can halt proceedings for days. This year, though, I have a new problem. The grain is too dry.' He added: 'It's Thursday as I write this and I should be out there in the tractor, but I'm stuck. And genuinely scared. Because all it would take is a discarded cigarette end, or the spark from a piece of faulty equipment and in a matter of moments, my whole crop would be turned into ash. A year's work, literally, up in smoke.'
The scare comes shortly after Clarkson opened up about his health following a diagnosis of an 'aggressive' form of prostate cancer, which was featured in the latest series of Clarkson's Farm. The cancer was detected early, and Clarkson later confirmed he was in remission after a PSA test showed no sign of the disease.
Health Scare and Recovery
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Clarkson admitted the diagnosis affected him more than expected. He said: 'I've seen so many people die of cancer. It doesn't bear thinking about what it must be like to live knowing that an illness is going to kill you. It must be very, very, very distressing. I don't know the history of what happened to (former Olympic cyclist) Chris Hoy, but to be told your cancer is inoperable and to still carry on, you'd have to be incredibly brave.'
Clarkson also revealed a frightening medical emergency that occurred after he restarted blood-thinning medication following his cancer operation without consulting a doctor. He discussed the incident while speaking from a hospital bed during the Clarkson's Farm season finale. Recalling the event, Clarkson said: 'That was horrific and it was all my own fault. I'd been on drugs for heart issues and I had to come off them during the cancer treatment. Two or three weeks after the cancer operation, I thought I'd better put myself back on those blood thinners. Big mistake, huge. It (resulted in) a very big emergency in the middle of the night. I'm not even going to go into the treatment that was required as a result of that, because it was horrible. I didn't ask a doctor, I just thought, 'I'm sure it will be all right to go back on blood thinners.'''
Impact on Public Awareness
Clarkson's decision to speak publicly about his cancer has encouraged more people to check their own risk. Prostate Cancer UK reported that more than 50,000 people used its online risk checker in the week after Clarkson revealed his diagnosis – a 640% increase on the average week and the highest figure recorded since February 2025. Clarkson's cancer diagnosis came almost two years after he underwent a heart procedure in which he had two stents fitted to improve blood flow. At the time, he revealed doctors had advised him to stop working and take up golf instead.
