There aren’t many people who could greet Prince William by cheekily saying “great hair”, but Kaleb Cooper, one of the most famous names in British farming right now, got away with it as he joined William to talk about the state of the industry.
Kaleb, star of the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm, joined William to talk to young farmers about their challenges and mental health, and shared with Sky News his thoughts on the pressures facing the community right now.
He told Prince William: “I think there’s a worry with everyone about where they see farming in 10 years’ time and I always say, ‘don’t forget we always need a farmer three times a day, breakfast, dinner and tea’.”
Later he told Sky News: “I’ve always said farmers are really good problem solvers. And yes, okay, they may solve the problem. But then at the end of the day, they take that on board themselves. That’s where the stress comes from, and that’s why mental health occurs in the farming industry a lot. So it’s good to talk about it.”
With almost three million followers on Instagram, he regularly uses his platform to highlight where help is available.
Kaleb was joined by Charlie Ireland, a land agent who also features on the show, at the event – the first organised for young farmers on the Duchy of Cornwall, of which Prince William is now in charge as heir to the throne.
Sky News revealed earlier this week that some in the farming community believe the Prince has a “duty” to speak out more on behalf of farmers as they’re currently at loggerheads with the government.
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But while William is constrained by his role, Kaleb and Charlie can use their new profiles to say more.
Speaking on the day of Labour’s spending review, Charlie said: “We’ve got turbulent times in the economy. Farming is picked up in that. We’ve had changes. The cash flows are tight on farms. Cash flows are tight in the government – we’re feeling that within farming.
“The risk in farming – it’s been amplified by about three and a half fold in the last decade because of inflationary pressures. So the risk-reward is now much narrower in certain sectors. That doesn’t help people’s sort of state of mind because there is a huge amount more pressure out in the fields.”
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Kaleb also described the day-to-day issues in farming: “It can be whatever the politics are going on in terms of day-to-day or it could be the weather. There’s so many different things that are changing as well – it could be a new disease that comes up for a crop, it could be a new disease that comes around for an animal or a chicken.
“It’s so many challenges that every farm has got to deal with.”
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Sharing one of his secrets to getting farmers talking, Kaleb revealed a brainwave he had at one get-together – darts: “I started talking to these farmers. They wouldn’t open up and I went,’I’m going to get a game of darts going’.
“All of a sudden, every single farmer joined me on the dart board. And everyone started talking openly.”
Throughout the event Kaleb and Charlie were constantly followed by camera crews which means Prince William will appear in a series of Clarkson’s Farm in the future.
Whether Kaleb will take Prince George’s advice, as passed on by his dad, to not swear so much is less certain.
