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Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:56 pm
by sid
Hello again, i've been having this thought for a long time now and i was wondering if anybody has formed a co-operative. The idea being that more meat would be available from more sources going out to one soul market, food miles and identity are becoming key components in consomer marketing and the Dexter meat fills all these roles i.e traceability, welfare and natural. It was just an idea , but i think it might have some merit.
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:14 pm
by Chris Downward
Very Interested in your idea, the only way to make Dexter meat profitable is to have a constant source of supply for the customer. the only way to do this without a very large herd is by having a Coop. Very interested count me in.
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 8:43 pm
by sid
84 people have viewed but only one reply,I'm sure that more of you out their have an opinion and please post so we can have a frank discusion on the potential of this breed. Waitrose have a constant supply of a specific breed beef so why not others. Aberdeen Angus run in the ten's of thousands and make very good money, why not Dexters? I leave the floor open.
Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:09 pm
by Peter thornton
Yes, I would be interested in having an outlet for my animals. We keep just a few (4 cows) animals so have an average of 2 beasts a year to dispose of. We use the meat for ourselves and sell to friends. If we had a guarenteed outlet then we might double the size of our herd.
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:43 am
by Inger
The idea would work as long as there were enough Dexter breeders in a smallish area, otherwise transport could be an issue. If you could find a butcher who is willing to stock Dexter meat and advertise it as Dexter meat, you could develop a clientel of discerning Dexter munchers. :D
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 12:51 pm
by Ryan
I'd certainly be interested. Only have five breeding animals at the moment and I'm probably in the same position as Peter in that if I had a reliable outlet, I'd consider increasing stock levels.
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:00 pm
by Issy
Could well be interested as well but only have 2 cows and one calf at the moment. Idea is good though.
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 3:02 pm
by ann
Hi Sid
On paper it looks a great idea, however one of the problems with dexters is the variation in size and quality, plus the new transport rules coming into effect. To make something like this work you really need to probably do it within your local group, I'm not suggestiong the group should do it but members in your area and possibly other local dexter breeders close by who may be intrested.
I know various people have tried over the years to get the DCS to take some iniative in trying to promote meat sales but its not an easy one to solve. To get a butcher on board you have to be able to supply him 12mths of the year, so you have to have members who calve at different times, there are quite a few people sourcing young stock to finish and maybe an idea would be an addittion to the for sale board for young stock to finish, or peole wanting stock, aslthough people do already advertise on the wanted and other sales boards already.
Another problem is unless more people are prepared to sell heifers for meat, unless someone has a magical potion, mine do not provide me with the correct ratio of males each year, sometimes I have a glut to slaughter like this year and for next year I will possible have to either buy in or use some heifers.
However unless people do co-operate and discuss these idea's I think with all the new rules we may lose dexter owners over future years. 
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 5:10 pm
by Woodmagic
I have found this discussion very interesting, and I largely endorse Anne’s comments. I know a group in the Midlands tried hard to organise something but they could not find enough animals to ensure a supply that would satisfy their butcher, having worked hard to rouse enthusiasm in quite a large area.
Would it be possible to organise some sort of postal delivery, using the net, and having slaughter facilities, at several points, to reduce transport, with one advertising outlet to cover the whole country. There is no question we have a highly saleable product, but as Ann suggests it doesn’t always come up to the same standard, partly because many Dexter owners are amateurs.
Good for you Sid, for starting it, shall look forward to further contributions.
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:38 pm
by Sylvia
I have a reasonable sized herd of Dexters but although I never had problems finding sales to supplement a fellow breeder's project when I didn't have any meat to sell myself, when I did have a good supply up and coming I had great difficulty finding how to sell it for a reaonable return. In the end I agreed to sell for finishing and promptly had that taken out of my hands by the TB outbreak. I was urged to try mail order but the idea of having to get meat packed up and sent in the narrow window of opportunity when it comes back frankly frightened me. Not to mention the nerve wracking time after it leaves until it arrives. I would find it very comforting to think I could send about 20 finished animals per year to a specialist Dexter outlet (but not for about 18 months, Defra willing). However, I can't quite see how this would work, or how a steady supply could be guaranteed. Regional co-ops might work in areas which are well populated but here in SW Wales there is rather an 'every man for himself' attitude I fear.
Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:10 pm
by Inger
What about selling the product frozen as well as fresh? That way, if the butcher didn't have fresh Dexter available, he might keep a store of frozen product as well. It would help the supply and demand situation.
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 12:21 am
by AlastairC
I have resisted the temptation to join any of the discussions for almost four years but this one exactly describes my problem!
I am a dedicated beef producer. I am very lucky that over the last three and a half years - my first dexters arrived in May 2003 - I have found an abbattoir within a reasonable distance and my local butcher who will not only do the cutting up but lets me use his vacuum packer as well. So periodically I do have excess meat to sell. My present market is direct retail in "mixed cuts" packages which brings in a good return and I have also persuaded said butcher to take sides off me which, as he has to make a living too, gives a lesser return but is less trouble. I have managed to raise interest in a local restaurant amazing what a free bit of steak can do! but the problem that I, and from what I read others as well, suffer is the gap between being able to supply spasmodically during my herd build up and that golden future when I hope to be able to finish an animal a month.
I am (?) a member of a cooperative but it seems to be highly quiescent and I haven't heard from them for ages.
Any positive ideas welcomed
On a sombre note I think that my hard have actually been genetically (perhaps meteorologically) modified into polled miniature water buffalo during this last few weeks. Does anyone know how to make mozzarella?
Alastair
Yorkshire Dales
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 10:28 am
by Sylvia
To enlarge on the mountain which forming a co-op could be could I add that I suggested to our local group that one person (and I would have volunteered!!) was given the task of keeping a list of spare beef available for sale (frozen obviously) so that anyone with a customer whose needs could not be fulfilled could access this list and obtain what they needed. The idea sank like the proverbial lead balloon.
In addition I wonder how many others are 'resisting the temptation' to post like Alastair (There, there it didn't hurt did it?) Come on, have a go, you have nothing to lose but your sanity. :p
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 2:04 pm
by Louisa Gidney
Has anyone supplied Traditional Breeds Meat Marketing? This would be an obvious contact in the first instance. I've had various enquiries from them for lamb, but I don't castrate & they don't take entires. This again impinges on beef, I don't castrate as I want small, lean carcases that finish early. Personally, I prefer a good covering of fat but I can't sell it in a health conscious university environment. Those supplying the Aberdeen Angus beef to supermarkets, mentioned previously, will be working to a contract with a tight specification of carcase conformation, weight & fat, which a disparate group of breeders with one or two spare animals at a time are unlikely to be able to match.
Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:28 pm
by Martin
The one problem any co-op of Dexter breeders would have is noticable in most of the posts on this subject, and that is surplus!!
The idea of cooperation is fine and very relevant, the problem is that in practice its every one for themselves. We all have our own customers who we wish to keep because we decide what profit margin we are prepared to accept, and we have nurtured these customers for a while and wish to take the profit that they give. We only wish the co-op to take what we cannot sell.
There are lots of Dexter keepers selling a lot of meat, the limiting factor being supply. In my view it could be easier if these people could take forward stores at a fair price for both parties, they would not expect to get all of your yearly production and could possible help those amongst us with little experience of what is a finished animal. Most areas of the UK have at least one breeder that could fulfill this role, maybe this is the way to go, it just seems easier to organise and would suit most peoples sense of independance.