Kaleb Cooper, the farming contractor and star of Clarkson's Farm, has shared a photo of the aftermath of a fire that destroyed the straw stored in his barn. The 27-year-old posted the image on Instagram on Wednesday morning, showing smoke filtering out of the barn, which remained standing but with all its straw contents lost.
'I'm having a bad day. Anyone got any straw? Lost all mine,' he captioned the post. Cooper owns a smallholding near Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds, where he keeps chickens, sheep, and pigs.
Cooper began working as a farm hand at age 13, starting with three chickens on four acres of land, which soon grew to 450 hens. He later bred sheep, worked on a dairy farm, and bought his first tractor at 15. After studying at Moreton Morrell College, he set up his own farm contracting business in 2016, with Clarkson's farm among his customers.
He has previously spoken about his ambition to own his own farm, telling The Times last year that he was 'saving everything' despite high land prices in the Cotswolds. The father of three also emphasised the importance of teaching children about farming, saying, 'Young kids should know how to grow a potato, should know where their milk comes from.'
Cooper has embraced the spotlight from Clarkson's Farm, releasing a book and going on a live tour, but remains committed to farming full-time. 'I want to be the best ambassador there is for farmers out there,' he told Metro. Clarkson's Farm season 5 is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on June 3.
