Jeremy Clarkson confirms bTB outbreak on his farm
31st July 2025
Jeremy Clarkson has confirmed that cows at Diddly Squat Farm tested positive for bovine TB.
The star of Clarkson’s Farm wrote on his social media: ‘Bad news from Diddly Squat. We’ve gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated.’
While his fans wished the cows a quick recovery, he responded that the animals will have to be culled. Mr Clarkson added that ‘the offending animal is pregnant with twins.’
When asked whether Endgame, the star of season four of the farming show, had tested positive for bTB, Mr Clarkson said the results were ‘inconclusive’. ‘I couldn’t bear it if we lost him,’ he added.
Bovine tuberculosis is a disease affecting cattle caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium bovis. It can be transmitted to and from various other animals, including badgers, deer, goats, pigs, and camelids like alpacas and llamas.
Transmission primarily occurs through close contact with infected animals or their excretions, but it can also be passed through contaminated food and water sources. When cattle test positive for bTB, they are required to be slaughtered to prevent further spread of the disease.
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Badger vaccination project
Bovine tuberculosis can be managed through a combination of measures, including badger culling, improved cattle management practices, and vaccination.
The NFU and ZSL (the Zoological Society of London) have just confirmed the launch of a project that aims to explore the contribution, effectiveness and practicality of professionally scaled-up, industry-delivered badger vaccination as part of a comprehensive TB eradication strategy. They secured £1.4 million of Defra funding to enable this work to take place.
The three-year research project has been driven by farmers in Cornwall who want to better understand the impact badger vaccination may have, both in preventing TB in the badger population and, critically, in cattle herds.
With a reduction in bovine TB in England over the past decade, farmers are looking to develop the tools needed to maintain this trajectory to reach TB eradication, especially as wildlife control licenses come to an end, NFU explained.
Through blood tests, the project will track the effectiveness of vaccination within the badger population and will use cameras to estimate badger population densities, vaccination coverage, and badger recovery rates in post-cull areas.
NFU member and livestock farmer Martin Howlett, who is taking part in the project, said: “My farm was repeatedly hit by TB over a 15-year period. Losing cattle, even if it’s only a few each time, takes a massive toll on the family and the business, which was essentially frozen. What I remember most from that time was a constant sense of dread.
“Wildlife control played a key part in helping us to eradicate TB on our farm, and we’ve been TB-free for five years now, but we know this measure won’t be available forever. It’s vital we look at other tools to ensure we can continue to reduce cases.
“I’m hoping this project will deliver the evidence we currently don’t have—that badger vaccination can be delivered at a much bigger scale across the country and help farmers in the fight against bovine TB.”
Mr Clarkson is not a part of the programme.
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