Jeremy Clarkson and his emotional toll

Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, has been struggling with the emotional toll of being a farmer and the owner of Diddly Squat Farm.

Fans of his Amazon Prime Video show, Clarkson's Farm, have seen him struggling to come to terms with sending his sheep to the abattoir for the first time. In a recent column for The Sunday Times, Jeremy has opened up about how he found the departure of seven of his male pigs even more "gut-wrenching" than saying goodbye to his flock. He has shared his heartbreaking loss that took place last week on his farm in the Cotswolds.

Jeremy admits that he can never sleep properly the night before he has to send his animals to the slaughterhouse, and he feels a hot cricket ball in the pit of his stomach all the way there. He even sheds a tear or two when it's time to say goodbye. While he knows that he is trying to be a farmer and that this is what farmers do, it's not easy to take seven happy, healthy pigs from their woodland home to their deaths. Moreover, given the current low pig prices, he will almost certainly make a loss on the transaction.

Sadly, Jeremy's troubles didn't end there. After looking forward to his remaining pigs welcoming new piglets into the world, he received a gloomy report. One of their pregnant pigs had given birth to only one piglet, and he had to call the 24-hour emergency vet's helpline for advice. To his surprise, the problem could be resolved by taking the mother pig for a walk, which prompted the arrival of 10 piglets the next morning. However, tragedy struck when the mother pig, nicknamed Clumsy, sat on two of her 10 piglets, leading to their deaths. This was not only extremely irritating but also sad and expensive, as 28 pigs have been born so far, and eight have been killed more than a quarter, and one hell of a rate of attrition.

Despite these challenges, Jeremy remains passionate about farming, and he even celebrated the arrival of the farm's first piglet back in January. He posed for an Instagram photo with the adorable baby animal and shared it with his followers.