A trip to Italy for the Open Junior Show has proved triumphant for the team of Holstein Young Breeders with the UK winning both the Junior Champion and Senior Champion titles.

With all team members in the top ten for the overall results, the team have led the way against their competition from across Europe.

Iwan Thomas from Kidwelly, Carmarthenshire, was selected to represent the UK Holstein Young Breeders (HYB) team at the highly esteemed dairy show in Cremona which takes place annually. This year’s judge was Zsolt Kőrösi from Mezőhegyes, Hungary.

Sixteen-year-old Iwan has been involved with HYB since he was ten and has seen great success at junior level.

Highlights include winning the Intermediate Showmanship Class at this year’s All Breeds All Britain Calf Show, the National Stock Judging Competition for the past three years and being placed as Champion Handler at the 2019 South Wales Calf Show.

Iwan is currently working on his family farm and hopes to travel and work abroad to further his experience.

On the first day, competitors participated in a timed clipping competition before presenting their calves in the ring to be inspected. Iwan, who was competing as a junior, won his class with a "beautiful and natural clip". Friday saw the competitors back in the ring for the showmanship classes with Iwan again winning his class.

Alongside the clipping and showmanship, the competition also focused on stock judging where Iwan again came first, adding to his points considerably.

The final results are as follows:

Clipping: 1st place (35pts)

Showmanship: 1st place (45pts)

Stock judging: 1st place (10pts)

Quiz: 7pts

Senior Class placing: 1st place (out of 17 competitors)

Overall placing: 1st place (out of 35 competitors)

Away from the showground, the team also took the time to visit two of the region’s dairy farms - Palazzina Holsteins and Barozzi Holsteins. This proved to be a fantastic morning and the team really enjoyed seeing how the Italian dairy industry differs to that of the UK.