Clarkson’s Farm star shares update on Diddly Squat’s future – and it’s not looking good

She joined the beloved Amazon Prime reality show last year and instantly became a hit with Clarkson’s Farm fans. Since then, Harriet Cowan has gone from strength to strength, transitioning from being Jeremy Clarkson’s right-hand woman to becoming a freelance farmer. The blonde bombshell is set to reunite with her former co-stars at The Great British Farm Fest later this month, which blends serious agricultural insight with large-scale entertainment.

Ahead of her upcoming appearance, the reality star has revealed the reality of working on the popular Oxfordshire farm – and it’s not looking good for Clarkson. The aspiring farmer Cowan revealed how the industry’s struggles are heavily influenced by politics and Mother Nature.

Speaking exclusively to the Express, she explained: “Being part of farming, you are constantly relying on the weather all the time. This time last year, it was just too hot, there was a drought, and the grass just turned brown and died.

“Every year, you’re constantly wondering what’s going to happen. Last year, as Jeremy said, the farm really struggled because the grass that we would have grown and made would have fed the cattle all winter, but because there wasn’t enough rain, we obviously ran out.

“That meant we had to buy in hay bales, and because businesses knew we needed them, they put the price up. So bales that were probably going for around £40 were now costing nearly £90, and when you think of that on a large scale, that’s insane.”
Last year, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host revealed his farm took a huge financial hit due to the scorching hot summer, which quite literally killed a large portion of his stock. This left him with no other option but to outsource hay for his animals and spend exorbitant amounts of money to save what was left of his crops.

In his recent column in the Sunday Times, he admitted: “We know for a fact we won’t make money on wheat and barley. Last month, when I would normally be out in the fields planting the spring barley and the durum wheat, Cheerful Charlie, my land agent and all-round font of wisdom, told me that this year there’s absolutely no point, because even if the weather is perfect and I make no mistakes, we are guaranteed to lose money. It is a mathematical certainty.”

These huge financial hits to working farms have forced many businesses to close due to rising living costs and a lack of government support. In the last 12 months, the Office for National Statistics recorded 6,365 agricultural businesses closing, the highest number since quarterly records began in 2017.

Another major hit for farmers up and down the UK is the ongoing war in Iran, which has depleted the country’s fuel supply. Cowan highlighted that although the conflict in the Middle East appears to be far away and not affect Brits, it is having a “detrimental” impact on farming.

She fumed: “The war in Iran has affected us massively. The price of diesel is going up, and the red diesel in the tractors is just getting higher and higher. Although people wouldn’t associate the war with having a massive impact on farming, and the general public probably looks out their windows and thinks it’s fine, it’s not; it’s quite detrimental.

“With fuel prices going through the roof, we can’t drill those fields, we can’t sow that crop, we can’t grow that food. I think it’s crazy that we’re in 2026 and we’re still doing this. It’s tough for farmers at the moment to be honest, but hopefully it can get wrapped up, and things can go back to normal because it’s not fun and it needs to stop.”

Despite the struggles that come with the job, Cowan insisted that she wouldn’t have it any other way and thanked Jeremy for allowing her to follow her dreams. She gushed: “After the show, I just decided to follow my dreams and do the things that I enjoy, which are farming and doing my social media.

“One day, I hope to own my own farm, and that’s something which I wouldn’t have been able to do if it weren’t for Jeremy and the show. I’m so incredibly grateful.”