Jeremy Clarkson has said he is “genuinely and properly looking forward” to hosting one of Britain’s most prestigious farming events when Cereals takes place at Diddly Squat Farm on 10-11 June 2026.
The broadcaster & journalist turned farmer also admitted he was most looking forward to learning more about farming at Cereals as he joined Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland to tour the site ahead of the event.
Speaking at a press conference during the Cereals Crop Plot Day in Oxfordshire, Clarkson admitted that when the event was first explained to him, he struggled to understand its appeal.
“I’ve got to be honest with you, I couldn’t see why it was prestigious,” Clarkson said. “I was thinking, so who’s going to come all the way here to look at root structure?”
But after seeing the scale of the preparations at Diddly Squat for himself, he said his view had changed.
“Today’s the first time I’ve been out and actually seen this properly and I’ve found myself going, ‘Oh look at that oilseed rape.’ I’m really starting to understand it,” he said. “I think it’s an amazing show. I can’t wait for it now.
“Charlie has made it clear this is as prestigious as it gets. I’m thrilled to bits to be hosting it, and it does look good out there.”
Clarkson added that one of the biggest draws for him is the chance to keep learning.
“Every day is a learning day for me,” he said. “I learn something new from these guys or from reading books, and then when Cereals comes here and there’ll be 25,000 farmers. I’m going to learn a lot.”
The show’s arrival in the Cotswolds marks the furthest west the event has been staged in almost 50 years since its inception as Barley ’79 held in Cirencester.
Charlie Ireland said bringing Cereals to Diddly Squat was about showing farming in a real-world setting and would be key to helping farmers navigate the next 12 months as they grapple with volatile markets, fuel costs and input prices.
Charlie said: “For a lot of arable farms the first impact of the Iran war has been the cost of fuel, and we will certainly feel that over the summer. Uncertainty now is centred on supply of fuel and fertiliser, more so now than in the past with Ukraine. This conflict has the potential to stop supply of gas which will have dire consequences.
“When you walk around a show such as Cereals, you need to have your eyes and ears open,” he said. “Look at what is going on, what new techniques are out there, what opportunities to mitigate the need for as much fertiliser use, what technology can be used and there’s lots of that about.”
Kaleb Cooper said one of the most important parts of the event is its potential to inspire younger and first-generation entrants into farming.
He added the industry offers far more than the stereotype of simply driving tractors or inheriting a family farm and explained: “We need a farmer three times a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can go in to be the actual farmer, or there’s other careers in farming, whether that be the agronomist, whether that be a GPS specialist, whether that be a journalist.
“So, there is definitely a future in farming and it’s so important to open up people’s eyes and opportunities in our industry.”
Charlie Ireland confirmed the crop plots, growing onsite since August of last year, were performing well and he hoped they may look even better in the Cotswolds in June than the plots that are traditionally grown in the east.
He explains: “The comments about the crops have been very positive today. I know everybody's aware of where we are but we're 650ft up here, so everything's a bit slower than it might be. That's only a good thing because I think crops can be burnt up a bit when Cereals opens in the East in June, but here I think most crops will be looking at their finest.
“Plus, the team think this land has got a bit more body in it than most of the soils that have in the East. The crops are proof of this and they’re looking good.”
In addition to the Agronomy Zone, visitors to Cereals at Diddly Squat will have full access to all of Cereals’ informational features like the Seed to Shelf Stage sponsored by KWS, BASE-UK Regenerative Ag Stage sponsored by Tees Law, Young Farmers Programme sponsored by Michelmores and the Farmers Weekly/ Transition Live Stage. A wide variety of machinery demonstrations will also take place throughout both days including a full sprayer & drone demonstration schedule in the Syngenta & CropLife Sprays & Sprayers Arena.
New for 2026 is the Livestock Zone sponsored by Nofence. Kaleb Cooper said he welcomed the new feature and argued the Livestock Zone was an important addition as the continuing volatility facing farming meant we need to spread risk. He explained: “If your wheat price is down, unfortunately you’re going to make a loss that year.
“But if you have beef added to your farm – and the beef price is really good at the moment, as we all know – all of a sudden, your books then get balanced.”
He then wryly added: “And I’ve always said this, you can’t farm without an a***hole.” You can now register for tickets at www.thecerealsevent.co.uk or enquire about exhibiting at the event.
This is a trade only event and to ensure only the industry attends, there are a number of approval methods in place and registrations will go through a vetting process.
Members of organisations including NAAC, Farmers Weekly, the NFU, Young Farmers and BASE will be automatically approved with a membership number.
To manage traffic there will be a number of traffic flow measures in place and visitors are being asked to select an entrance time.
New for 2026, you can now also book a seat on a Cereals Bus from key locations across the UK, giving you priority access on arrival and helping to reduce traffic further.
