Jeremy Clarkson has earned backing from French farmers and emerged as a surprise hero amid the demonstrations.
The Clarkson’s Farm host, 63, has issued a message of solidarity to farmers, wishing them ‘good luck’ as they call on the French government to react to calls for higher payment for their goods, less red tape, and protection against cheap imports.
A French farm owner recently expressed a desire for a celebrity to emulate Jeremy Clarkson’s Prime Video series, which highlights challenges farmers confront while running their own farm in Oxfordshire.
‘One of our French celebrities needs to do the same as Jeremy Clarkson. It’s everything he explained that’s why and how we are here today.
‘You may have left the EU but we share many of the same problems regarding all these environmental rules,’ farmer Robin Leduc told The Telegraph.
Writing on X in French, Clarkson said: ‘French farmers. I bet no one has ever said that before, but good luck, coming from England.’
Agriculteurs français. Je parie que personne n'a jamais dit cela auparavant, mais bonne chance, venant d'Angleterre.
— Jeremy Clarkson (@JeremyClarkson) January 30, 2024
French TV presenter Karine Le Marchand has been seen at the protests, after hosting match-making show ‘L’amour est dans le pré’ (Love is in the pasture) for 13 years.
‘Are there any single men here?’ she told farmers at a tractor camp at Jossigny, east of Paris, referencing her programme.
‘This time, the French are with you. They have understood your distress.’
She continued, while handing out 300 croissants, according to The Telegraph: ‘ If you manage to have a tough, durable movement without violence, you will make a difference.’
Farmers are protesting charges that they are underpaid and against environmental laws.
Protesting farmers put up barricades around Paris on Tuesday, blocking highways heading to the French city, which will host the Olympics in six months.
In a speech before the National Assembly, France’s new prime minister, Gabriel Attal, stated that imported food items will be subject to rules to ensure fair competition.
He also stated that food sellers that fail to comply with a legislation designed to guarantee farmers receive a fair share of income will face instant fines.
Clarkson has previously stated that he believes food costs should be twice what they are.
He told The News Agent podcast in 2022: ‘People simply don’t pay enough for their food. The one thing a government will never say “oh you’ve got to pay more for your food, you don’t pay enough.”‘
He has also received praise from Countryfile star Adam Henson for demonstrating the ‘difficulties’ of farming as he overcomes industry obstacles at his Diddly Squat Farm.
James Rebanks – author of The Shepherd’s Life – famously said Clarkson has ‘done more for farmers in one series of Clarkson’s Farm than Countryfile achieved in 30 years’.
‘’What they really like is he got people to spend 10-15 minutes of a programme thinking about farm economics and how tough it is,’ he said.
‘There were silly bits,’ Rebanks admitted, chatting when the first series aired in 2021.
‘But in the farming community they are just delighted that someone high profile would stick up for them or have any kind of genuine empathy.’
Victoria Prentis, former Minister of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food, hailed the show for doing ‘a significant lot’ to promote awareness of agriculture and its issues.
Meanwhile, Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper admitted that he only pays himself 50p each hour.
Despite his fame from the TV programme, Cooper – who now has a book deal – broke down the costs that come with working in the farming industry, and said in 2022: ‘When I’m working for myself, when I’m feeding my calves in the morning – I bought eight calves, it’s like a little bit of a new business idea that I’m doing, buying calves in and then feed them on milk, which costs me about £200 a calf, then selling them at nine months.’
He added: ‘[I’m] trying to get a profit [and] see if it will work.
‘I worked it out the other day, do you know how much my hourly rate is, how much I pay myself? 50p an hour.’
He has previously commented about the difficulties of farming during the cost-of-living crisis, stating that it is extremely difficult but that he is unable to raise his rates.
‘Diesel, for example, was 32 pence per litre last year. It’s now £1.20,’ he explained.
And as a contractor, I can’t really put my prices up because the farmers go, “Christ, I can’t really afford it.”‘
He continued to the PA news agency: ‘In the farming world, the person at the top is the farmer and he often has no better.
‘So therefore, in the industry, it’s incredibly hard. But I like doing it, so what else would I do?’
Clarkson’s Farm is available to watch on Prime Video.
