Clarkson’s Farm is a documentary-style series that follows the former Top Gear car show presenter Jeremy Clarkson as he attempts to run a working farm in the English Cotswalds area.
The new season continues to serve up what it does best – drama, humour and British bureaucracy set to a backdrop of hacking hedgerows and heading off high-jinks hazards.
But behind the scripted chaos lies a surprisingly honest account of the complexity, frustration and hard work that define life for farmers in many rural places today. Clarkson opens a door to understanding the deeper structural and policy challenges that rural farm communities face, and in doing so, prompts questions about how they can adapt, diversify and thrive.
Diversification… an old story with new urgency
One of the most striking themes in Season 4 is the struggle to run a viable rural farm business. At Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm, efforts to diversify, by selling local produce locally, or tapping into tourism, repeatedly face torturous traps.
Rural diversification for farmers is not new. It is long-standing and widespread. In Ireland, over 70,000 farms are classified as subsistence farms, and in the US, more than 80% of farmers earn income from off-farm activities. Across OECD countries, rural economies have long relied on income from tourism, short food supply chains, renewable energy, natural resource management, and agri-services to remain viable.
Small and medium-sized rural enterprises struggle due to administrative complexity, remoteness from public services, and limited local capacity. These challenges raise a key policy question: what kind of governance actually supports rural resilience?
Enter Sandman? No, enter place-based policy
The OECD’s new Reinforcing Rural Resilience report argues for tailored, place-based approaches and policies that recognise the differences between remote regions and rural areas closer to cities. Rural development and agricultural policy need to work together. Current agricultural policy frameworks often favour large-scale industrial farms, which can leave smaller, more traditional farms behind.
“Place-based policy with the right supporting conditions can help reinforce rural resilience. Simply pushing responsibility down to the local level isn’t enough, especially if local governments lack the tools, funding and capacity to make good decisions. Without adequate support and clear co-ordination, local discretion can slip into inconsistency and confusion.” Enrique Garcilazo – Senior Policy Analyst, OECD
Seeds of growth on the ground… but problems of perception
When place-based strategies are properly designed and implemented, the results can be impressive.
The OECD recently found that pockets of rural growth are emerging. This is the case where place-based approaches align local assets like heritage, natural capital or proximity to urban markets with enabling factors like skills development, digital infrastructure and innovation support.
In other words, rural resilience starts with flexibility, but also with coherence and co-ordination.
In 13 OECD countries, rural regions grew faster than national GDP per capita averages between 2001 and 2021, showing that positive trajectories are possible, when the right conditions are in place.
Economic performance is only part of the picture. Just as important is how rural places are seen by policy makers, by the public, and even by themselves. Another quiet thread running through Clarkson’s Farm is the sense of cultural frustration and how rural people feel misunderstood or dismissed.
OECD work on Rural Well-being and Shrinking Smartly and Sustainably shows that rural areas are too often defined by what they lack. This includes jobs, connectivity and services, rather than what they contribute in the way of food production, environmental stewardship, renewable energy and cultural identity.
This perception gap matters. If rural places are seen as lagging or peripheral, it affects political attention, investment decisions and public imagination. Policy change partly requires a narrative shift, from viewing rural areas as problems to be solved, to partners in national progress.
Infrastructure and the next generation
This narrative is especially important when it comes to young people. Characters like Kaleb Cooper and Harriet Cowan bring massive energy to the show, but they also mirror the bigger demographic challenge of how to keep young people in rural areas. Across the OECD, rural regions are ageing and between 2000 and 2020, more than 50% saw population decline.
Young people in rural areas often want to stay but face limited options. Jobs matter, but so do reliable transport, fast internet, affordable housing, access to childcare, and opportunities to develop modern skills for rural industries, from tech-enabled agriculture to the circular economy.
Some countries are responding:
- In Finland, rural youth boards give young people a voice in local policy decisions.
- In Austria, targeted support helps small rural firms take on apprentices, bridging the skills gap.
- In Korea, integrated rural service centres combine digital access, social services and local business support under one roof.
These kinds of joined-up, locally adapted approaches are central to long-term resilience.
Policy lessons… if policy peeps take a peek
It’s easy to dismiss Clarkson’s Farm as entertainment. And to be clear, it is. But its reach, especially among urban audiences, suggests there’s an appetite for stories that reveal how rural systems work, and where they fall short.
For policy makers, this curiosity is an opportunity. Clarkson might not be the spokesperson rural communities asked for, but he’s opened a door to conversations about regulation, diversification, productivity, demography and identity that policy makers need to be part of – if they are watching too.
OECD support for agricultural and rural resilience
The OECD offers key insights through publications such as Reinforcing Rural Resilience, Strengthening Agricultural Resilience in the Face of Multiple Risks, and Building Agricultural Resilience to Natural Hazard‑induced Disasters, which together provide frameworks and policy guidance on enhancing resilience across agricultural systems and rural regions facing climate, economic, and demographic challenges.
As Public Affairs and Communications Manager, Shayne engages with policy issues concerning SMEs, tourism, culture, regions and cities to name a few. He has worked on a number of OECD campaigns including “Going Digital”, "Climate Action" and "I am the future of work".
Bridget Donovan is a Policy Analystat the OECD’s Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs,Regionsand Cities, where she contributes to the Mining Regions and Cities Initiative. Her work focuses on strengthening wellbeing across economic, social, and environmental dimensions in regions affected by mining. Previously, she worked in ESG consulting, conducting materiality assessments for mining companies, and in Indigenousorganisations, supportingcapacitybuilding andorganisationaldevelopment.