Jeremy Clarkson’s hit Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm is fuelling a surge in applications to agricultural colleges across the UK, with teenagers citing the show as their first introduction to careers in land management and farming.
While Clarkson is the star of the programme, admissions officers say the real inspiration for many applicants has been Charlie Ireland — the land agent and agronomist nicknamed “Cheerful Charlie”, who has become an unlikely ambassador for rural land management.
The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) reported an 11 per cent increase in applications for its three-year rural land management BSc course compared with last year, with the version of the degree that includes a farm placement up 18 per cent. Applications for its two-year rural land management foundation degree rose by 14 per cent, while interest in its three-year agriculture courses climbed 4 per cent, and agricultural courses with farm placements grew 8 per cent.
Miles, an RAU spokesperson, said: “It’s looking like programmes like Clarkson’s Farm are having an effect. The interest goes beyond ‘I can do farming’ – there’s also rising enthusiasm for the range of professional roles involved in making farms succeed.”
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