Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he often suffers sleepless nights after sending his animals away for slaughter.

The former Top Gear presenter, 62, has now turned his hand to farming and documents the trials and tribulations of his new profession on the Amazon hit show Clarkson’s Farm.

Mr Clarkson was clearly emotional in one episode of the second series when he dropped a cow off at the abattoir.

READ MORE: I watched Clarkson's Farm as a vegetarian and this is what I thought

But Mr Clarkson has opened up about an even more difficult situation that he faced in recent weeks.

He was forced to say goodbye to seven of his male pigs and in his column for the Sunday Times revealed that this often keeps him up at night.

He wrote: “I can never sleep properly the night before they go, and all the way to the slaughterhouse I have what feels like a hot cricket ball in the pit of my stomach.

“And then when it’s finally time to say goodbye, I always become a little bit unmanly.”

“I know that I’m trying to be a farmer and that this is what farmers do. And I know I will enjoy the bacon and ham and pork chops that result.”

But Mr Clarkson explained that even this thought, does not make the trip to the slaughter house any easier.

The 62-year-old has been accused on Twitter of making viewers want to turn vegetarian after watching his show.

One user posed on the social media platform: "Reckon Clarkson's Farm is the nail in the coffin to send me veggie."

And others have suggested that the show has made them think twice about their consumption of animal products.

One tweeted: "After watching season 2 of Clarkson's Farm, I will only be buying meat from Local butchers from now on.

“The big supermarkets are still buying cheaper EU meat and killing the lively hoods of British farmers."

After the difficulty of sending his pigs away for slaughter, matters were made even worse for Mr Clarkson when a tragic accident occurred.

He had initially been consoled by the idea that the remaining female pigs would soon bring piglets into the world.

But one of the pigs accidentally killed all ten of her babies after giving birth by sitting on them.

Mr Clarkson nicknamed that pick ‘Clumsy’.

Season 3 of Clarkson’s Farm is currently being filmed and is expected to be released early in 2024.

It is likely to be the final season of the show.