Jeremy Clarkson has today revealed that bovine TB has been discovered at his Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire.
The 65-year-old broadcaster and farmer has said he and his staff are all ‘absolutely devastated’ by the ‘bad news’.
The animal testing positive for TB is believed to be a cow, who is pregnant with twin calves.
Mr Clarkson tweeted: ‘Bad news from Diddly Squat. We’ve gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated’.
One fan asked if Endgame, his prize-winning Aberdeen Angus bull, was infected.
‘His test was “inconclusive”. I couldn’t bear it if we lost him’, Clarkson replied.
He added: ‘The offending animal is pregnant with twins. I should clear this up really. It’s Bovine TB that we have. It doesn’t affect people, just our poor cows’.
In cases of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle, infected animals are often destroyed to prevent the spread of the disease. More than 21,000 animals were slaughtered due to a TB incident in England between April 2024 and March 2025.
Jeremy Clarkson, pictured in front of his Lamborghini tractor at his Diddly Squat Farm, has said that TB has been found there
The Clarkson’s Farm series repeatedly deals with the threat of TB to his cattle
Clarkson shared the ‘bad news’ on social media and said the team is ‘absolutely devastated’
Last year the former Top Gear presenter turned was visited by Thames Valley Police officers after activists reported blocked setts on his land near Chadlington, Oxfordshire.
Under UK wildlife law it is illegal to damage, destroy, block or disturb badger setts.
Clarkson said he told the police who came out to visit him that he had no reason to fill in the setts – because he shot all the badgers instead, seemingly under licence.
The TV host wrote: ‘Mercifully, however, I had the perfect excuse: “I’ve shot all the badgers on the farm so why would I want to fill in their setts?” And yes, before you ask, it was all legal.’
On previous series of Clarkson’s Farm, its star has discussed the threat of TB for his cattle – and went on a rant about ‘b*****d’ badgers.
Clarkson said it was one of the most difficult areas to protect from.
‘We thought, ‘What do we do?’ because if you want to make a popular show you have to say, ‘Oh, look at the little cuddly-wuddly badgers.’ But I thought: no, it’s a farming show, and you’d lose your core audience, the farmers, if you went around, saying, ‘Look at these sweet little animals,” Clarkson said.
‘So, I actually called them b*****ds and showed people what they actually do. It’s truthful.
The broadcaster with his beloved cows. The animal testing positive for TB is believed to be a cow, who is pregnant with twin calves.
‘These are not nice animals. Do not be fooled by Brian May. This is what badgers do. This is how much heartache they’re causing to people who’ve worked for generations to build up a farm that’s been wiped out by badgers’, he said in 2023.
Badgers had made an unwanted appearance in the second series of Clarkson’s Farm, which aired on Amazon Prime.
One scene saw him told his cows were at risk of contracting TB due to the presence of badgers on the farm, one of which tested positive for the bacteria that causes the disease.
In 2023 Clarkson’s Farm star Kaleb Cooper held back tears as he discussed the 21 dairy cows he co-owns with a friend on Instagram.
Three contracted Bovine Tuberculosis.
Sad: He has now updated his followers on those cows, three of which have contracted Bovine Tuberculosis, which is an infectious disease of cattle caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis
Kaleb admitted in a video: ‘Now today’s a bit stressful. Today I’ve just found out the place where I have my dairy cows – the 21 cows that I bought – has got three reactors to TB.’
‘I don’t really know how to describe the emotion. I know I mean it’s not all my cows and I don’t know how he [the other owner] feels – but it’s hard.’
He continued: ‘It’s not good. Three reactors, so, therefore, we’ve got to test again in two months’ time. That’s three cows we’ve lost that are milking.’
