Kaleb Cooper tells Melanie Jones how he balances fame, farming and family life
Royal Three Counties Show: June 17-19
Local lad Kaleb Cooper was born and bred in Oxfordshire and came from humble rural beginnings. He is now ‘the one to watch’ and the unexpected TV star of global sensation Clarkson’s Farm, a television programme located in his home county.
Kaleb is farming stock through and through, and shares his passion for the industry ahead of his much-anticipated appearance at the Royal Three Counties Show in Malvern this month.
There is nothing grand about Kaleb, who loved growing up in the countryside and still has a passion for all aspects of the farm.
Kaleb says, ‘From a very young age, watching tractors in a field and playing with my Farm Playmobil, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. It’s always been farming.’
However, since television catapulted him into the public eye, Kaleb has struggled to come to terms with his newly-found fame and really is a homegrown celebrity.
‘In Chipping Norton, where I was born, raised and live now, I was always speaking to everyone anyway, but now when I go out to buy milk or something, it does take me about four hours. I spend much more time speaking to lots of people rather than getting the milk, and then I forget the milk! My errands take a lot longer now,’ Kaleb says.
He is now busier than ever and, alongside his regular appearances at agricultural shows, he has also found time to write a book and is about to launch a new collaboration with Three Counties sponsors Westons. Both of his latest ventures are undoubtedly inspired by his advisory role to Jeremy Clarkson, on the Amazon Prime series Clarkson’s Farm. The soon-to-be-released The World According to Kaleb covers everything from life’s big issues to the difference between straw and hay and the importance of having a hair perm. He’s rocked four different hairstyles since appearing on our TV screens, so hair advice is another string to his bow!
Unsurprisingly having studied agriculture in Warwickshire, the next county along, and running a small holding in Oxfordshire, Kaleb is clear about his love of farming but cows in particular are what gets him up in the morning… very early.
‘I love how all my cows have got different personalities and they show their traits off a lot better than sheep. They have a look at you and judge you, when my hair’s not on point, I know secretly the cow’s looking at me going “Jesus, Kaleb, come on. I know you can’t see the back of your hair, but Christ almighty, you could’ve brushed it!”’
Hot on the hooves of Clarkson’s successful Hawkstone Beer, Kaleb has teamed up with family-owned Westons Cider in Herefordshire to make his very own cider. A truly committed cider lover, he is excited to be partnering with such an experienced team, and the new Kaleb’s Hawkstone Cider is described as a ‘medium dry, lightly sparkling, well balanced cider, rich with the sweet and bitter flavours of apple’.
Breaking from tradition, the Hawkstone Cider will include a blend of the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire apples that makes Westons Cider so unique, whilst adding in a nod to Kaleb’s home by including Oxfordshire apples to make a distinct new flavour.
Kaleb is focused on running his farming contractor business, alongside his spin-off ventures, and he loves the changing seasons which dictate the pace of his live. ‘In particular spring, because everything starts to get busier, and of course everyone feels much better when the sun makes an appearance after the winter,’ he says. ‘You also get the spring lambs, so that indicates you’re straight into the busy season. But I also love the summer because we’re so busy, and I love harvesting; I love being out in the tractor… just me and the land.
‘I love all aspects of the summer months as well; even though I’m ginger and I suffer from the sun. I like the spring and summer the most... but then again the autumn and the winter bring different things as well: the autumn drilling and then the winter months I can slow right down and do tractor maintenance. Even though it’s colder and there’s less daylight hours, at 4 o’clock when it gets dark I can go and do the dreaded paperwork!’
So, in between farming, writing and filming, what does Kaleb enjoy doing?
Well, his main hobbies are fixing tractors, playing around with engines, doing up cars and playing a bit of football. He balances all of this with spending as much time as possible with his little boy Oscar. He emphasises how important it is to get family time and to share with his young son the beauty of the countryside and the rural life he is so passionate about.
Hear more funny anecdotes from Kaleb and see him live at Royal Three Counties Show on Saturday, June 18. royalthreecounties.co.uk
Follow Kaleb on Instagram: @cooper_kaleb
