Isla Arrell farms in Shropshire and is probably one of the youngest people to have her own dairy herd here in the UK.

 A member of the Jersey Cattle Society, Isla aged 14, first started showing when she was just four, and during the last ten years her greatest supporters and mentors have been her parents, her mum Jane, and father Phil.

Isla is very much part of the next generation of Dairy Farmers and a member of the Shropshire Holstein Young Breeders,  and she described this community as  giving her “friends, opportunities and memories to last a lifetime”. Her line up of accolades and achievements is enviable, and includes securing Champion Jersey Showman at All Breeds All Britain 2023, and in 2022 and 2023 being Junior Best Set Of Reason's at the National Stockjudging Competition.

The best piece of advice  Isla says she has ever been given, is “To take every opportunity”, and this is certainly something she has taken on board.  She grasps all opportunities and as part of her growing Sweetpea herd of dairy cattle, Isla has 10 Holsteins and 8 Jerseys (including Saxown Joel Judy 21 who is EX95).

Looking after her cattle takes up much of Isla’s spare time, and when she is not at school, she is helping  Steph and James Doherty with their Firstlook Herd. “I owe a lot of thanks to both the Doherty and Whitfield families for allowing me to keep my own milking animals and their calves on their farms. Because of this I like to help where I can with milking, feeding calves, and halter training. I also help Mum and Dad at the farm with the calves, especially the baby jerseys.”

Going forward Isla’s aim is to do well in the Holstein Showmanship at the All Breeds All Britain and to continue showing her own Jerseys. “I know when taking part in a competition we are all competing, however, for me the sheer level of competitiveness, really is the greatest challenge in showing.”

“One thing my mum always says is that: ‘I get nervous because I “care” about showing’, and that always sticks in my mind and helps to calm my nerves when heading into the showring.”

In the future Isla would love to travel and attend different shows all over the globe, to see the best of the best within showmanship and breeding, to learn from them and to see first-hand the cows that she  sees in catalogues.

In the short term however, she is preparing to compete at UK Dairy Expo in the Intermediate Showmanship class and  showing her Calf Thistlerose Unique Samba in the ‘Jersey born in 2022’ class.

We wish her the very best of luck.