Dexter Cattle For Sale Discussion Board

Interesting listing on Sell my Livestock web site. WrightMarshall are acting as agents to source 100 Dexter heifers 1 month to 24 months old for someone in Cheshire. Trying to contact Johnny Dymond, WrightMarshall to get more details. Will update when more info is available.

Mark S

Brereton Dexters

Paying £100 to £400 doesn't care whether they are registered or not or even cross breeds.

Spoke to Jonny Dymond. The Dexters are for an export order for Ireland.

Mark S.

Brereton Herd

On a more positive note it is great that we have people wanting to buy Dexters but as the ad was also for cross breeds too then it obviously is for commercial gain. The Dexter has always been a hobby cow and I do wonder have we really given enough thought as to what it actually means to enter the commercial arena? Who are the winners and losers?

Hi Jac.

I disagree strongly with your view that the Dexter has always been a hobby cow. Although we only have 13 head at present they are run commercially. We have 2 flocks of pedigree sheep and the cattle are invaluable at cleaning up the sheep pastures and both the sheep and cattle benefit each other by reducing the worm burden and also reduces the need to worm both species as often as when they they are grazed on their own. We enjoy a good trade for our dexters and sell pedigree stock at good prices which reflect the time and effort and costs that is put into them and also supply a couple of local butchers with finished cattle that are sold for prices in excess of the deadweight market price listed weekly in the farming press. To keep these butchers supplied in addition to seliling our own cattle we also buy in good type steers. This for us is an expanding market.
I have no problem with people keeping dexters as a hobby as we started this way, however are these people responsible for a lot of instances where dexters are sold too cheaply as they just want to move them on and when they set up a herd do they have a viable plan on how they will sell surplus stock?
Mark S. Brereton Herd.

No you are quite right in the dim and distant past there were some commercial milking herds but in no way now is the Dexter considered a commercial animal in the true sense of the word in that it can hold its own in a commercial livestock market (odd cull bull perhaps). I appreciate what you are saying and I know that they are kept alongside farm businesses and to a very small minority provide some source of income.

I do agree that there is an issue with people that keep them for a hobby in costing/marketing/forward planning etc but how much of that is down to established breeders that do not try to put them straight when they purchase stock from them. I do appreciate that sometimes people do not buy off established breeders but out of the 'bargain pages' and the like and that is why I also believe that the society should help take a lead in this and this is why I would like to see induction courses run for newcomers with this very subject included. This is also why I believe a basic assessment could be offered as part of the linear scoring scheme to help new breeders before they start breeding away*.

Yes, I agree that when you are established you can obtain good prices for the time and effort etc but it is really difficult for new breeders to get a foothold and perhaps that is another reason why sometimes the stock is advertised well below what it should be and that they leave the breed so soon because they can't sell what they have produced*.

For anyone breeding Dexters even on a very small scale it would be prudent to keep very simple accounts especially if advertising stock/beef for sale. Yes, it is profitable to buy in steers it is also profitable if you can buy in d/w heifers that someone else has raised at their expense because they are doing it for a hobby and do not realise how much they cost to breed and rear. I don't know about you but I couldn't breed a calf for £100.

Just a final thought if due to demand it is so profitable to 'beef' stock, why are there any live ones coming onto the market from commercial beef herds? If sale prices are governed by the d/w market price for beef taking actual figures from Alison see post 'Traditional Breeds Meat Marketing' - lowest price after fees deducted £515.42 (23 months) and best £624.44 (22 months) for finished heifers why are we seeing prices lower than this?