Farmer praises Clarkson's 'remarkable' impact

Jack Emery runs Thistle Ridge Farm with his father

A fourth-generation dairy farmer has said diversification is key in the "competitive" agricultural industry and praised TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson for providing an "honest reflection" of British farming.

Jack Emery, who runs Thistle Ridge Farm, in Eastleigh, Hampshire, with his father, said: "We are constantly trying to update the way we work, whether that's with new technology or simply creating better relationships between people and farming."

The 22-year-old said what Clarkson has done for British agriculture was "truly remarkable".

The former Top Gear host runs Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, which features in Amazon Prime documentary series Clarkson's Farm.

Mr Emery said staying up to date with new technologies could be costly but explained the farm was "lucky to be on a milk contract, so we don't add any extra cost onto the consumer".

The farm was started by Mr Emery's grandfather, and was milking a herd of 100 cows by the 1980s.

"Over the years, we have continued to update the parlour with new technologies and feeding systems, as we have 240 cows," he said.

"We've had to make changes to the parlour to keep moving with the times and the demand."

Jeremy Clarkson has owned Diddly Squat Farm since 2008 and began running the farm himself in 2019

Mr Emery said he was a "huge fan" of Clarkson's Farm, which he said gave an "honest reflection" of British farming.

He said: "Regardless of the controversies that Mr Clarkson's has had in the past, what he has done for British agriculture has to be recognised as truly remarkable.

"He has really managed to capture the nation and give them a brief education into the details of what farmers are working with and the realities of farming.

"I know the audience will laugh at him for how difficult farming can be, or that he has had a bad harvest and profits are dwindling, but it is an honest reflection of the work we do.

"As farmers, we can do all this work for 365 days a year, but mother nature is the thing we rely on and we can't control the weather."

Milking cows has always been the "backbone" of Thistle Ridge Farm, says Mr Emery

New technology at Thistle Ridge Farm will help reduce milking time from eight hours to five, said Mr Emery, as well as increase the number of cows milked at one time.

Under the farm's new system, each cow has an identity collar that records their activity, analysing what they need.

The farmer said: "This new technology is a huge learning curve for all generations.

"The future is unknown, but when I chose to study agriculture it was always centred around the idea of coming home and I wanted to continue in the family footsteps, taking up the slack as the fourth generation to farm here."