By Samantha Masters

Copyright walesonline

Kaleb Cooper has opened up about the personal difficulties that come with farming . The Clarkson’s Farm star rose to fame as Jeremy Clarkson ‘s farmhand in the award-winning series, and has since built a career of his own. Now on his fourth book, the 27-year-old has dived into details about life on the farm, and how a personal decision left his wife-to-be Taya “furious”. In one of the chapters titled ‘I hate sheep!’, Kaleb explained how the animals had caused difficulty both on the farm, and in his relationship. He wrote: “Sometimes you have to make difficult decisions when you’re a farmer. There’s no room for being a big softy. “Farm animals are NOT pets. So one day I made a hard decision. It was time to sell the sheep – mostly because sheep are rubbish, as I’ve already mentioned.” Elaborating further, Kaleb said the animals had been “a right pain in the neck” and claimed they made his life “as difficult as possible”. Having bought Taya a sheep named Stumpy in the earlier days of their relationship, Kaleb mentioned how this was the start of a whole new chapter on his farm. “Stumpy’s lambs grew up and they had lambs of their own, and then before I knew it we had eight sheep running around the farm,” he recalled. “I was also helping my friend Jeremy with his sheep at the time. He had a lot of sheep and didn’t know what he was doing. “Those sheep of his were even more stupid than my sheep and they were really doing my head in. That was when I made the hard decision to sell mine.” Reflecting on the process of getting rid of the sheep, he said: “Stumpy was last to go. She looked at me as the other sheep went up the ramp, cocking her head to the side as if to ask me what was going on.” Upon sending the sheep away, Kaleb said he then swiftly heard “someone yell” and realised it was Taya, who had no idea that he was selling the sheep. Recalling their exchange, the farmer wrote: “‘Sorry, Taya,’ I said, taking a deep breath. ‘This is a business decision.’ “‘Open that door and let them out if you want what’s best for your wellbeing,’ she growled.” Kaleb claimed that a “furious” Taya yelled “with such volume” that he “nearly fell over”. After telling her that “they’re not pets”, the farmhand said Taya agreed, though claimed “they are family instead”. Arguing her point, Kaleb said she reminded him that Stumpy was a present to her, and claimed she needed a flock. He continued in his book, Kaleb’s Farmyard Tales: Escaping Animals and Runaway Tractors: “I opened my mouth to argue, but I knew she had a point. “Once you’ve given an animal a name, it’s very hard to see it as just a way of making money. My shoulders slumped. I was defeated. “I could see the driver’s nervous face looking at me in the lorry’s wing mirror. I shrugged.” In a turn of events, Kaleb added: “Then I opened the lorry and let the sheep come back down the ramp. “I opened the gate to the holding pen and let them run free, back to their paddock. And as it turned out, it wasn’t a hard decision after all.”