10 June 2026

The Cotswolds’ most famous farmer Kaleb Cooper, as seen on Prime Video’s Clarkson’s Farm, has helped two more students in the third year of his exclusive agriculture bursary with the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) – and this year they’ve spent their funding on some Aberdeen Angus calves and a second-hand car!

Students Robyn Sherriff (23), and 19-year-old Isaac Covington, were recently chosen as the two recipients of the 2025/2026 RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary and today Kaleb met up with Isaac at the annual Cereals event at Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat Farm near Chipping Norton.

Issac and fellow student Robyn - who was sadly unable to attend the Cereals event as she is back at home in Zambia - were selected from applications for the annual bursary which is now in its third year. They are the fifth and sixth students to have been helped by Kaleb through the bursary scheme, which is only available to students at the RAU.

Speaking at today’s event at Cereals, where Isaac and Robyn were publicly announced as the latest bursary recipients, Kaleb said: “Today is a special day. I’m so happy that we’re now in our third year of awarding this bursary to yet more truly deserving students.

“What started out as an ambition to help one person a year quickly grew to two a year. I can’t tell you how much of a difference something like this would have made to me when I decided to go into farming.

“We have to keep fresh, hard-working, talented young people entering this industry – whatever their background. Celebrating ambition, skills, and creativity from all walks of life is something I truly believe farming and agriculture can do brilliantly!

 “I hope that seeing how much of an impact it can have on these young students, and the wider industry, will encourage more people to get involved and start contributing to these bursaries.”

 The RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary was launched in 2023 and currently offers two bursaries annually – one funded by Kaleb himself and one funded by the Elizabeth Creak Charitable Trust which has an existing relationship with the RAU.

The scheme is open to all the University’s undergraduate agriculture students and preference may be given to students who are not from a farming/agricultural background - as Kaleb himself was - and/or who can demonstrate hardship or financial need.

As well as a £3,000 payment, the bursary provides the winning students with the opportunity to apply for a work placement with either Kaleb himself or one of his industry partners.

Isaac, who is originally from Cherhill, near Calne in Wiltshire, has just completed the first year of his BSc in Agriculture at the Cirencester-based university.

He said: “I am not at all from a farming background – my mum is an artist and my dad works in IT – but, when I was younger, I went to a lot of big machinery days and Open Farm Sundays and I just loved the idea of working with animals and machinery.

“In Year 10, I did my work experience at the farm in the village. At the end of the work experience week, they offered me a part-time job and I've worked there ever since – for the last four years! I do everything - yard work, milking, and working during the harvest.”

After A-levels in business, geography, and sociology, Isaac applied to study for a degree in agriculture at the RAU.

He added: “When I applied for the RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary, I really didn’t think I'd be chosen since I already work part-time on a farm so I was just so shocked when I found out he had picked me!

“I’m going to use the bursary money to buy some Aberdeen Angus beef calves which I’ll keep at a smallholding in my village. A bit like Kaleb, who started out with a few chickens, my dream is to have my own farm, or smallholding, with animals and this bursary means I can now afford to buy some cows, which are a bit bigger than the animals I would have been able to afford without it!”

Meanwhile for Robyn, who is now working back on her parents’ farm in Zambia, the money from the bursary has meant that she has been able to drop two of the four part-time jobs she was doing to enable her to afford her course, and also buy herself a cheap car.

She explained: “Receiving the bursary has totally changed my university experience. Having the car means that I spend much less time getting to and from both lectures and work so I have more time to devote to my studies.

“Since I am from an agricultural background, I wasn’t sure if I would qualify for the bursary but I thought I might as well give it a try as I saw that he was also encouraging applications from students who were in financial need.

“Obviously studying abroad isn’t cheap so I was working four different jobs, alongside my university work, just to fund my studies and day to day life. Being able to give up two jobs – and freeing that time up to concentrate on my studies - has already made a massive difference.”

Robyn joined the RAU two years ago to do a foundation degree in Agricultural and Farm Management which she has now completed. She has now enrolled for an additional year to study for a BSc (Hons) Agri-Management (top-up) to obtain an Honours degree.

She added: “When I graduate from the RAU I would love to buy some virgin land in Zambia and start my own timber farm, planting Eucalyptus and pine, and then do cash crops, like broiler chickens and cabbages, once I can afford a borehole for irrigation to keep me going while the trees are growing.”

Professor Peter McCaffery, Vice-Chancellor at the RAU, said: “We are extremely grateful to Kaleb for his continuing support of our students. Kaleb is a passionate champion of farming - as we see on Clarkson’s Farm - and it’s terrific that he is helping new entrants and the next generation of farmers to realise their aspirations. It’s a real incentive for our students.”