'We've gone down with TB' — Jeremy Clarkson confirms outbreak at farm

Bovine TB found on Diddly Squat Farm

Jeremy Clarkson outside The Squat Shop, on his farm, Diddly Squat, near Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds. File picture: Blackball Media

A case of bovine TB has been found at Diddly Squat Farm — leaving the team "devastated," Jeremy Clarkson has said.

The TV presenter says a pregnant cow has contracted the disease on the farm near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

In a post on X, Clarkson wrote: "Bad news from Diddly Squat. We've gone down with TB. Everyone here is absolutely devastated."

Asked in the comments about the prize bull called Endgame, which Clarkson bought recently for £5,500 featured in the latest series, he said: "His test was 'inconclusive'. I couldn't bear it if we lost him."

He later wrote: "The offending animal is pregnant with twins."

Clarkson also clarified the disease is Bovine TB, which does not affect people but "just our poor cows".

Cattle which fail a TB test, or animals that have inconclusive results for two consecutive tests, and are classed as "reactors", must be isolated then to slaughter.

Bovine TB is recognised as a problem which devastates farm businesses, spreading from badgers to cattle, and from cow to cow.

Badgers feeding on earthworms in the same fields as cows with TB can pick up the disease from the dung of infected cattle. When they travel to other parts of their territory, they can spread the TB to other cattle.

Badger culling has long been a part of the British Government's response to the disease, despite criticism from wildlife and animal welfare campaigners.

More than 8,000 badgers destroyed by Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine in a nation-wide crackdown to eradicate bovine tuberculosis between 2020 and April 2025 tested negative for TB following post-mortems.

The British Government last month said it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election.

Jeremy Clarkson: "I should clear this up really. It’s Bovine TB that we have. It doesn’t affect people, just our poor cows."

Oxfordshire is an "edge area" for TB, meaning it is a buffer zone between high risk and low risk areas — so most herds are subject to six monthly TB tests by default.

There have been several cases in the area of Oxfordshire near to Diddly Squat Farm in recent weeks, according to ibTB, a mapping platform for the disease in England and Wales.