Lisa Hogan, who helps her partner Jeremy Clarkson run their Diddly Squat farm, has warned that the UK could be facing beer shortages after a summer of drought.
Hogan, an actor, former model and TV personality, said there would be “less beer all around” after extreme weather led to a poor barley harvest.
“I think a lot of barley farmers suffered, so that’s less beer all around,” she told the Telegraph. “And funnily enough, last year our yields were terrible, but the quality was better. This year, after a second year of dry weather, both the harvest and its quality have suffered.”
According to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the barley harvest this year is expected to be the worst on record, as farmers struggle to get enough water on their land.
Clarkson has his own brand of beer, Hawkstone, which is continuing to surge in popularity – it supplies more than 4,000 pubs while sales rose to £44.9m in the year to March.
Launched in 2021 using barley grown at Diddly Squat, it has expanded from a single lager, which Clarkson serves at his own pub, the Farmer’s Dog, to a business with a range of beers, ciders and spirits.
Clarkson has become a vocal champion for farmers’ rights since he began documenting his own endeavours as a farmer on the hit Amazon series, Clarkson’s Farm.
He and Hogan, who have been together since 2017 after meeting at a Christmas party, are celebrating their win at the National Television Awards this week, as Clarkson’s Farm picked up the reality docuseries prize.
Speaking backstage at the O2 Arena in London after the win, Clarkson noted that taking home the trophy was a “thrill”.
“The people who voted for us…I also think they kind of voted for farmers,” he said. “I think they are going ‘oh that is a difficult job’.”
The Prime Video production previously collected the factual entertainment series title at last year’s ceremony.
Speaking backstage, Clarkson also spoke about how we are “very lucky to live in a time when doctors can mend you very quickly and easily”, after going into remission for prostate cancer.
“I was only also away two weeks too (for treatment),” he said. “It was just annoying as I missed a lot of the harvest.”
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