Jeremy Clarkson’s farming reality TV show Clarkson’s Farm appears to have caused an increase in applications to agricultural colleges.
Young people watching the programme are being inspired to follow in the footsteps of the former Top Gear host and his land manager “Cheerful” Charlie Ireland, and are enrolling in land management courses as a result.
Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire said applications for their rural land management degrees had gone up by 18 per cent over the last year, according to The Times.
“It’s looking like programmes like Clarkson’s Farm are having an effect,” Daniella Miles, head of recruitment at RAU, told the publication.
Applications for their three-year BSc degree in rural land management increased by 11 per cent and their two-year rural land management foundation degree by 14 per cent.
Their three-year course with an additional farm placement saw the highest spike, rising by 18 per cent.
The college said that applications for their agricultural degree courses had “remained relatively steady” rising by four per cent over the last year, with the same version of the course including a farm placement seeing an eight per cent increase.
“It seems to be spreading much further than ‘I can do farming, as it’s an interest in all the other courses and roles involved in farming that is increasing as well,” Miles said.
Other institutions, including Harper Adams University, said they had also seen a “ripple effect n the number of students enrolling on our open days as a result” of “Cheerful Charlie” and his advocacy on the show.
Jeremy Clarkson appears to have inspired a generation to go into farming (Amazon)
However, Jeremy Kerswell, principal of Plumpton College in East Sussex, said that the growth is a result of sustained investment and awareness over the years, although he acknowledged the “Jeremy effect”. The school has doubled in size over the past decade.
“There’s a lot of very good educational practice happening across the country in agriculture and allied sectors,” he said. “And I’m aware that agricultural student numbers are increasing.”
First released in 2021, the Amazon Prime show has run for four series and has proved a success for Clarkson, becoming one of the streamer’s biggest hits. It follows the TV personality as he attempts to run a 1,000 acre farm named Diddly Squat in the Cotswolds.