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Jeremy Clarkson says he has been forced to abandon any "real farming" because of rising costs. The 66-year-old claims it is "impossible" to make any money in agriculture at the moment.

It comes as he has been forced to diversify the way he brings in funds at his 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire. Recently the former Top Gear star has turned his attention to rabbit breeding in a bid to find a new stream of income. He says sky-rocketing prices for fertiliser and red diesel, used in tractors and machinery, have created a dire situation for farmers across the country.

Jeremy explains he has been reduced to "market gardening" as he tries to earn something from the loss-making farm. Speaking to the Sunday Times, he said: "Honestly, we're not doing any real farming this year.

"There's rabbits and market gardening - basically growing herbs for the farm shop - and that's it. There's no point. It's impossible to make money."

Jeremy says the situation will get even worse for farmers next year when the UK gets a carbon tax on fertiliser. He says the only crop on his farm to have made any money this year is oil seed rape, explaining that is "because it's an oil product".

Yorkshireman Jeremy says he has always had a "love of rural life". But his pivot towards farming really took off in 2019, when the tenant at the-then Curdle Hill Farm retired.

Jeremy had originally bought the 1,000 acre plot, which included the farm, in 2008. Faced with not having someone to run the farm, Jeremy decided to roll up his sleeves and get stuck in.

His journey was documented on Amazon Prime Video's hit series Clarkson's Farm. The show was originally commissioned on a shoestring budget, but is now preparing for the launch of its fifth series.

The show became an almost instant success when it was first released in 2021, with its stars such as farmhand Kaleb Cooper, Jeremy's girlfriend Lisa Hogan, and land agent Charlie Ireland all becoming famous faces in their own right. While Amazon doesn't release viewing figures, reports suggest it was streamed 4.3 million times.

There has however been a noticeable lack of publicity ahead of the series. Amazon has even hinted that something could have happened that would make a media circus unseemly.

Jeremy himself however remained coy when asked by The Sunday Times. He explained "you'll see" what happens, adding: "We're not doing any press on it."

The series will however continue to follow Jeremy as he juggles running both the farm and The Farmer's Dog, which he purchases as a rundown pub in Oxfordshire.

He believes business at the pub is thriving because of his "tricky" pledge to only serve British produce. It was a pledge that led him to breeding rabbits, after a high-end butcher in the West Midlands told him they source all of their produce from Britain, except rabbit meat, which they brought in from France. It prompted Jeremy to decide to farm rabbits for their meat.