D. C. S. Council Criticism

[Rob R]

B****r the farmers and their opinions. The people who matter are the ones the farmers are selling to - the abattoirs, the butchers, the final consumer and nothing is going to move forward until these people are targeted.

All anyone is interested in is farming Dexter owners. There is no outlet and that is what is going to make farmers take the breed more seriously because the above want to buy them.

I agree. Dexter beef is marketed as 'special' and is regarded as such. People buy it as a special treat. It's not just the council doing this but the vast majority of the membership, too.

The media attention, such as when it features on a cookery show, doesn't help because you get a spike of interest which quickly dies off because there isn't the supply available. Dexter beef is not special, it's bloody good beef with many good attributes and the best beef you can eat IMO but it's just beef at the end of the day. It's just as good as a mid-week meal as it is for that 'special' occassion. People need to start realising that they are producing beef, food, and it has to be attractive & easy to buy, not an amazing thing to look forward to once a year.

[Jac]

B****r the farmers and their opinions. The people who matter are the ones the farmers are selling to - the abattoirs, the butchers, the final consumer and nothing is going to move forward until these people are targeted.

All anyone is interested in is farming Dexter owners. There is no outlet and that is what is going to make farmers take the breed more seriously because the above want to buy them.

I agree. Dexter beef is marketed as 'special' and is regarded as such. People buy it as a special treat. It's not just the council doing this but the vast majority of the membership, too.

The media attention, such as when it features on a cookery show, doesn't help because you get a spike of interest which quickly dies off because there isn't the supply available. Dexter beef is not special, it's bloody good beef with many good attributes and the best beef you can eat IMO but it's just beef at the end of the day. It's just as good as a mid-week meal as it is for that 'special' occassion. People need to start realising that they are producing beef, food, and it has to be attractive & easy to buy, not an amazing thing to look forward to once a year.

When it becomes something other than ‘special’ then you have to compete on price and with 100% British roasting joints going for £3.79 at Morrisons currently it doesn’t bode well – who wouldn’t be tempted to fill their freezers up for the year at those prices?

That said I wouldn’t buy it because I appreciate the difference unfortunately the majority of the British public don’t. What we have here is a classic chicken and egg situation the DCS will not market the beef to get it going with excuses of ‘there isn’t the supply’ while the number of females on the market reach record levels because people have tried to do it all themselves and failed miserably.
What worries me more than anything is the number people with no experience and larger acreages that have listened to the ‘hype’ and are set to make a bad situation worse when they discover a market/supply chain has yet to be created. Whether members interested in beef should have relied on the DCS or set up and financed a separate body is up for debate. Personally, I think they should have done it themselves because the Dexter is not an accepted commercial breed so the whole thing needed to be set up from scratch. I had hoped that the money Martin Ryder raised from the sale of ink cartridges around £10,000? would have been well spent on a feasibility study with full costs so everyone knew where they stood.

[Rob R]

I had the misfortune to taste so e supermarket beef, from Morrison's as it happens, and I just took pity on the people of this work who think that is what beef is. But they do, and it's acceptable to them but at the end of the day vegetables are cheaper, so there is always a cheaper alternative if you're fond of tasteless mush. Dexter isn't special though, it's just good, and people don't need to know that it's come from a Dexter to appreciate that fact. Most of my customers buy it for other reasons than it being Dexter, the fact that it is from a Dexter is more advantageous to me than it is the consumer. That's the trouble, we expect consumers to love Dexters as much as we do, which sets us up for failure & sets us aside from other breeds.

[Jac]

people don't need to know that it's come from a Dexter to appreciate that fact

Then why bother to keep a registered herd or join a beef scheme?

[Rob R]

people don't need to know that it's come from a Dexter to appreciate that fact

Then why bother to keep a registered herd or join a beef scheme?

For your own promotion of the breed & your herd, but it's not enough to carry the sales of beef to the end consumer. As you know, there's more to it than sticking a little label on it and expecting your product to fly out of the door.

[Boofarm]

people don't need to know that it's come from a Dexter to appreciate that fact

Then why bother to keep a registered herd or join a beef scheme?

To keep as wide a market as possible and to use the term "Dexter Beef" in advertising, not that either conveys any economic advantage or price uplift, more a case of keeping doors open.

Cheers
mac

[Jac]

people don't need to know that it's come from a Dexter to appreciate that fact

Then why bother to keep a registered herd or join a beef scheme?

To keep as wide a market as possible and to use the term "Dexter Beef" in advertising, not that either conveys any economic advantage or price uplift, more a case of keeping doors open.

Cheers
mac

The requirement for independent verification for the labelling of ''Dexter Beef" was relaxed a while ago. So I believe anyone can call it Dexter beef they don't need to be a member of the DCS unless using the Mark' then you have to sign up and pay. We had a gent from Trading Standards visit us last year and he took some photos of our traceability log and pedigree certificates so I guess the local authority will check people out in any case. There are loads of folk advertising and selling Dexter beef that have never paid a penny piece to the DCS.

[Rob R]

Exactly, you can't rely upon the breed name for that reason, it has to be your that you rely upon to sell your beef. Even within the verified Dexter breeders there is a massive amount of variation between how, say, I keep my cattle and someone a lot more intensive, which all makes the product unique.

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Current state of Dexter Cattle Society

Many members of the Dexter Cattle Society are well aware that there is considerable discontent in our Society at present. There are a number of reasons for this, and there are a number of ways in which this is showing itself.
Many of you will know that I have been a member of the society for more than 30 years, I have served on Council as an Honorary Vice President in the 1990’s, and more recently as an elected Council member. I have worked for the good of the Society in many ways, on sub committees, as an Inspector for sales, Bull Inspector, Field Advisor, and was made an Honorary Life Member some years ago.
We had a constitutional crisis some years ago when a group of people took over a meeting and hijacked the Society, styling themselves the “Steering Group”. This was largely the result of poor interpersonal relations within the society, which I had spotted and had offered to get someone I knew who was an expert in such organisational matters to help, at my expense.. The help was refused before the Steering Committee, during the time of the Steering Committee and by the new Council when we got back to a constitutional council again.
Since that time an obsession with control has taken over, with several changes being made which make it much easier for a small group to totally control the Society. This is being achieved through a very small number of individuals influencing matters from committee level through to council and indeed to control of AGM matters. The membership are becoming increasingly irrelevant to these people who will use many techniques to maintain their control. Rules are enforced when it suits their purpose, but ignored when it benefits them to ignore the rules.
So called “confidentiality” is widely abused, pressure put on all council members to treat any discussion in council as confidential whilst those “in the know” are given all the details immediately – I was well aware of this when last serving on council, since contacts in the south east and south west of England would already be aware of proceedings before I got back to Bute after council meetings. Council minutes are regarded as totally secret, and in fact Company Law is being ignored and current council members are not allowed to have access to previous council minutes.
Legal advice is used to back controversial decisions, but members, who are paying thousands of pounds every year for this advice, are not allowed to see either the points put to advisors or the answers given. Even council members are not allowed to see the actual full advice given.
As a result of this situation three former council members got together and put a resolution to the AGM, with the backing of well over 60 DCS members, including past presidents, past chairmen of council, very active show people, indeed a wide cross section of our membership. The resolution has been discarded on technicalities by those in control, not even discussed by full council, and resulting in the disgraceful letter from Tim Sparrow to the membership which grossly misrepresented the situation.
At the moment the best course of action is unclear. I would encourage as many as possible who support us to attend the AGM and make their feelings known. Decisions on next moves will follow depending on AGM outcome.
Anyone wishing to contact me can do so on 07775854441 or email duncan.macintyre@btopenworld.com

Duncan MacIntyre, DCS membership no 00316]