Great British Menu - BBC2 food programme

Minnie · Post by **Minnie** » Sat Apr 21, 2007 5:17 am

Hi Clive,

I heard that Wagyu have some Dexter DNA but not sure how correct that is.

The dairy farmer up the road that AI'ed our heifer thought the Dexters look quite a bit like Wagyu and it's the grain feeding in the feedlots that marbles the meat apparently.

Personally I like my meat lean and eating grass the way nature intended, I'm not a fan of the feedlot way at all.

Regards

Vicki

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 12:40 am

Of the 5 AI sires and 7 private stock that we and friends have had Genestar tested, only one has significant marbling genes, ie he has 5 out of a possible 8. The rest have none, one or two.
The 12 represent a wide international range of Dexter stock. Not nearly enough, of course, to make any rash statements, but enough to know that we can't make any rash claims either.
It is possible to look up Genestar, public results, and punch in Wagyu, to see that they are pre-disposed to marbling, even those who have not had updated tests, so showing only partial results.
I am not keen on my steak looking like a slab of fatty mince meat either, but a few streaks can make for much better eating.
Margaret.

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 6:41 pm

So presumably, Kobe is simply just a very marbled beef, and they feed them especially so that the taste of the feed/beer goes into the abundant fat?

And Wagyu are nothing more than genetically very marbled cattle! Looking at Genestar, the amount of tests on Wagyu is amazing. Dexters have two.

Could we have Dexter Kobe, or call is Dobe (no, we'd get sued). What are they fed (not that I want to, just talking).

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:03 am

Clive, isn't Kobe the name of a city in Japan? Wouldn't you rather call your meat Dublin, or something relevant?
Genestar has not updated the public results for the two Dexters. I asked, last week, to have them removed, rather than be incorrect. They are showing partial results only, PR.

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 4:58 pm

Margaret,

I was just reading an article by Carol Davidson from a 2004 back issue of the Canadian Dexter group newsletter and she notes that Hiyu Salty Rambler IV was tested by GeneSTAR for marbling and he got "2 stars". She states that 2 stars is their highest score. Have they changed their testing in the past 5 years? Also, when you talk about the testing, I suppose that because they are bulls, they would not be from any graded up stock?

wagra dexters · Post by **wagra dexters** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:15 am

Hello Kathy. Since I originally had Salty tested, and faxed the results to Carol, GeneStar has greatly widened the scope of testing.
They now have 4 sites for each of the earlier tests, marbling & tenderness, and more recently, feed efficiency. So 2 'stars' on each site gives a possible 24 stars. Salty has 5 out of 8 possibles for marbling.
We have 2 cows by a bull with 7 out of 8 stars for feed efficiency, but I think they would both need a dose of valium to attain their potential!!
I don't know of any recently upgraded Dexters that have been tested, but I am sure there are some out there. There have been some constants in the stock that I know of, for instance, all have 2 stars on T4, and all have zero on M3. All except one female has zero on T2, but on further investigation, that female does have a couple of crosses to a Grade 7 bull, who may have picked up the gene from introgresson. Or may not. Early days yet. Margaret.