Wednesday, 16 July 2025 10:05

Our own 'Clarkson'

Written by  The Hound

OPINION: The huge success of former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson's new TV show, Clarkson's Farm, and the boost it has given the image of farming in the UK, has prompted one scribe to wonder aloud who could fill a similar role here in NZ.

Probably tongue firmly in cheek, they suggest radio host Mike Hosking - now the owner of a lifestyle block near Matakana, a once-sleepy town near Warkworth, now overrun with Auckland luvvies in loafers and black BMWs.

If Hosking is the answer though, you've asked the wrong question.

The problem we'd have finding a local version of Clarkson's Farm is, we don't have any real celebrities, and if we did, they wouldn't be able to afford (or run) a real farm.

Sir Colin Meads has sadly left us, but 'Pinetree's Place' could've been a winner.

More like this

Floating Farm Sinks

OPINION: The world's first floating dairy farm, once hailed as a vision of farming's future, is up for sale after seven years.

'LinkedIn Greens'

OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities Party, labelled by some as the 'LinkedIn Greens' for their corporate spin on Green-esque 'tax the rich' policies.

UK Warning

OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in Westminster is a salient warning for us.

New Mates

OPINION: Proponents of regenerative agriculture tend to be naturally aligned with a 'green mindset', so they will be nonplussed with their new mates in the US of A.

Levy Scrutiny

OPINION: Mike Chapman, former chief executive of levy-funded HortNZ, has thrown out a challenge to farmers and growers to put their levy-funded industry organisations under the same scrutiny as fertiliser, electricity, labour and freight.

Featured

Editorial: The Value of Credibility

OPINION: In politics, credibility is and should be big. It must surely rank higher than charisma, which is quite trite and superficial. Yet, voters nowadays are often wooed and influenced by how someone looks or talks at a superficial level. TV plays a huge role in this.

Kaikōura Families Get School Run Lifeline After Storm

Kaikōura families affected by July's severe storm have found a practical solution to a problem that's kept some children away from regular schooling for weeks: a washed-out section of Inland Kaikōura Road, which has stopped the local school bus from running its usual route.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

'LinkedIn Greens'

OPINION: The same mainstream media muppets that brought you Jacindamania in 2017 have been flat out pimping for the Opportunities…

UK Warning

OPINION: Your old mate reckons the atrocious way farmers in the UK are treated by their lords and masters in…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter