Jeremy Clarkson has been forced to close Diddly Squat farm after an outbreak of bovine TB.
The TV star announced on Thursday (July 31) that his farm, which features on his hit Prime series Clarkson’s Farm, had been hit by an outbreak of Bovine Tuberculosis (Bovine TB). The former Top Gear host said everyone at the Cotswolds farm was “absolutely devastated” about it.
Jeremy has now revealed that he’s been forced to close Diddly Squat for two months after the outbreak and it’s “absolutely dreadful”. He said the last 24 hours have been “awful” in a heartbreaking update, where he said one of his calves has become “very sickly”.
He told Times Radio Breakfast on Friday (August 1): “It’s awful, it is awful. You have a test every six months on the cows and then you sort of become blasé, it’s a hypothetical threat. And then the vet looks up as he did yesterday lunchtime and said ‘I’m really sorry this one’s failed’.
(Image: diddlysquat.farmshop/Instagram)
“So that means we’re now locked down and it’s just dreadful, absolutely dreadful.” He later clarified on X that the farm was “not shut”, adding: “We just can’t buy or sell any cows.”
He has also admitted a devastating loss as one of his puppies has died.
He said: “It’s only been not even 24 hours since I found out and it occupies my mind. Well it was occupying my mind but I got up this morning and found one of my puppies has died. And we’ve got a very sickly calf. Honestly, farming? I’m not enjoying it this week.”
(Image: Tom Wren / SWNS)
His Diddly Squat farm shop is still open to punters, but the rest of the farm is on lock down. He added: “[The farm will be closed for] Certainly two months because that’s how long we have to wait before we do another test. The farm shop’s unaffected – it’s only cows that get affected by it.”
In a post on Instagram, Jeremy shared the devastating news that they were going to have to cull the infected cow on his farm, who is pregnant with twins. Alongside a video of the “poor cow”, he wrote: “This is the poor cow that has bTB.
(Image: Amazon MGM Studios)
“She’s pregnant with twins and has been separated from her calf. And she will have to be culled. Small wonder she’s crying.”
In his initial post about the Bovine TB outbreak, he wrote: “Bad news from Diddly Squat. We’ve gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated.”
According to the UK Government website, Bovine TB is “caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis, (M. bovis) which is closely related to the bacterium that causes human and avian tuberculosis.
(Image: AMAZON)
“All mammalian species, including humans, are susceptible to bovine TB. It is mainly a respiratory disease. Transmission can occur through nose to nose contact and also through contact with saliva, urine, faeces and milk.”
It continues: “Cattle can become infected when directly exposed to infectious cattle (or other infectious animals) and their excretions. The movement of cattle with undetected infection is the most likely way that disease spreads to new areas.”
Some fans grew concerned that Jeremy himself had the disease. However, he clarified: “I should clear this up really. It’s Bovine TB that we have. It doesn’t affect people, just our poor cows.”
Other fans rushed to support Jeremy and the farm in the comments. One fellow farmer wrote: “Had the same with chicks here.. lost 100+ in a day due to predators. things like this is devastating to a farmer, others have no idea how it hits us”.
Another wrote: “Oh no Hoping for the best, Jeremy.” While a third said: “I’m sorry to hear that, it’s quite a thing.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
