Down to earth talk by farmer

Kaleb Cooper
Marquee at Phyllis Court
Saturday, October 4

WITH his latest venture into children’s books, farmhand Kaleb Cooper “harvested” the audience’s attention discussing his new book, Kaleb’s Farmyard Tales.

Best known for his playfully argumentative rapport with Jeremy Clarkson on Clarkson’s Farm, Caleb regaled the audience with behind-the-scenes stories from the show and offered a glimpse into what it’s really like to manage and run a farm.

During this question and answer session led by BBC Radio Berkshire’s Kirsten O’Brien, he answered the audience’s burning questions, from how early does he have to wake up to what he finds most challenging about life as a farmer. Kaleb’s love of tractors is clear, and it features front and centre on the book cover, with a cartoon version of him perched on a big red tractor surrounded by various mischievous animals.

He told the audience how, as a child, he used to watch the tractor wheels go round and round in fascination — a passion which inspired his love of farming and that has now led him to own eight tractors himself, each a different colour.

The children in the audience were in stitches as Kaleb explained that a large portion of the book revolves around poo of various kinds on the farm. Kaleb explained that he wrote it so that children could laugh while also learning a little something about farming, a balance that seemed to go down well.

When asked whether he would want his own children to go into farming, the 27-year-old explained that he would love to share the world of farming with them, but only if it was a job they wanted. Farming, he explained, is only worth the trials and tribulations if you love what you do.

Other questions included, what was his favourite animal, to which he answered a cow, a creature, he said, with “fantastic curly hair” — “everything I want and can’t have,” he joked. The audience, which ranged from age three to 80 and included Clarkson’s Farm superfans, also asked technical questions concerning the ins and outs of tractors and whether Kaleb could actually understand Gerald, the comically accented colleague from Clarkson’s Farm whose speech is famously indecipherable.

Kaleb’s sweet, light-hearted and good-natured personality shone through on stage, just as it does in the show. Kaleb seemed to have genuine interest in sharing his farming adventures with the receptive audience. The good vibes continued after the question and answer session, as children clutching their hefty hardback copies of Farmyard Tales lined up to chat with Kaleb and get their books signed.

Maya Lawton