Dexter Beef Breakdown

[Rob R]

On the subject of more meat/costs. You have got your killing/hanging costs to consider it doesn't cost me any less if the carcase is smaller.
I have not noticed a difference between the amount of fodder consumed between the different sexes when fed on an ad lib basis - bearing in mind that mine are fed separately.

I was talking more on a general business level. If all costs are equal some of the weights quoted (200kg +) should leave a very healthy profit that shouldn't lead to anyone giving up Dexters or trying to sell heifers for breeding. There's no point producing more if you can't turn it over, though. That seems to be something the farming industry in general has struggled to grasp.

[Jac]

I was talking more on a general business level. If all costs are equal some of the weights quoted (200kg +) should leave a very healthy profit that shouldn't lead to anyone giving up Dexters or trying to sell heifers for breeding. There's no point producing more if you can't turn it over, though. That seems to be something the farming industry in general has struggled to grasp.

Yes, it does indeed and I do believe that they need to be that weight to have any hope of being collectively acceptable but I have reservations.

I do wonder how many people join the Society with the intention of killing everything they breed? Yes, there are extreme case Dexter pet owners i.e. the people looking for good homes for aged bulls, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. No, there is no point in producing more if you can't turn it over whether that be beef or breeding stock. I would like to think that beef is the way forward for the breed but no matter how large your herd is or how efficient you think you are pubs/restaurants/butchers will not be slow to catch on and drop the price accordingly as supply increases.

[Rob R]

I was talking more on a general business level. If all costs are equal some of the weights quoted (200kg +) should leave a very healthy profit that shouldn't lead to anyone giving up Dexters or trying to sell heifers for breeding. There's no point producing more if you can't turn it over, though. That seems to be something the farming industry in general has struggled to grasp.

Yes, it does indeed and I do believe that they need to be that weight to have any hope of being collectively acceptable but I have reservations.

I do wonder how many people join the Society with the intention of killing everything they breed? Yes, there are extreme case Dexter pet owners i.e. the people looking for good homes for aged bulls, but I think they are the exception rather than the rule. No, there is no point in producing more if you can't turn it over whether that be beef or breeding stock. I would like to think that beef is the way forward for the breed but no matter how large your herd is or how efficient you think you are pubs/restaurants/butchers will not be slow to catch on and drop the price accordingly as supply increases.

People do not think, or rather they don't plan, at all. That is the problem. And I don't think that anything can be done to stop this, you just have to accept it and work around it. If ever you think there's going to be a day when people can buy a couple of Dexters and there will be a market willing to take the stock, breeding or beef, off them, then you're as much a dreamer as they are.

If you breed stock without having a guaranteed market for it then you have to accept the possibility that you may have to pay to have it taken away. Breeding stock is beef, there is no difference, you can sell breeding stock as beef but you will rarely be able to sell beef animals as breeding one.

Knightsway Paddy was a fantastic achievement for the breed but he has also been one of it's biggest problems. Ever since he was sold there has been noticeably more bulls being kept entire, not just those which contain his breeding. People think that leaving a bull entire gives you more options and potentially a higher selling price. It's a fantasy, when you look at the stats, steers sell for more than most bulls. In fact steers may sell for more than heifers - due to most herds being small the buyers want an animal that can be turned out with their heifers, not something that has to be kept away from the bull.

There is this crazy idea that heifers aren't beef, all the promotional of the breed has been around having a 'steer for beef' if you're unfortunate enough not to get a heifer calf. The Dexter Society website says the following;

What about carcass quality?

The breed is early maturing. Beef of excellent quality and flavour, with good marbling, can be produced economically. Dexter steers can finish on grass at 20 -24 months of age without supplementary feeding, with average carcase weights of between 145 – 220 Kg’s. Because their good meat to bone ratio, a killing-out percentage of over 56% can be achieved.

The meat is very popular with the consumer, though farm shops, farmers markets and home freezer consumption because of its outstanding flavour, small joints and minimal waste.

Heifers are not mentioned at all.

This isn't a case of changing the minds of butchers or breeders, it's about the language used to promote the breed. People are expecting better from the breed than they can realistically hope to achieve because they have been sold a lie. Even if they have done their research, if they have made projections based upon what they have been told by the Society or breeders (who want to sell them stock) they are doomed to fail because the information they have been given is wrong.

[Jac]

People do not think, or rather they don't plan, at all. That is the problem. And I don't think that anything can be done to stop this, you just have to accept it and work around it.

I share your view that people don't plan. I have been working round it for years. I don't accept that nothing can be done to stop this. Whether there is the will to try to intervene is up for debate (or not in the present climate). When you have an organisation with a mission statement '...... to increase numbers of the breed' and a reliance on registration revenue then there is a conflict of interest.

If ever you think there's going to be a day when people can buy a couple of Dexters and there will be a market willing to take the stock, breeding or beef, off them, then you're as much a dreamer as they are.

Then I'm a dreamer. In those quantities one or two a year - no problem. Starting with the best animals you can find and taking advice from someone with experience that you trust and not using the bull up the road because it is convenient. It is uncontrolled/indiscriminate breeding and trying to turn it into something it is not where folk run into difficulties.

[Rob R]

Not sure how you could do something about people's lack of planning - you can give advice but they're not forced to take it. And other breeders and the society sometimes give a conflicting impression/advice doesn't help the poor novice.

If sucess is only measued on how many registrations or how much beef you can produce it ignores the slight issue that you need somewhere for it all to go. The meat is very popular... sounds like shelling peas, grows on grass, sells itself, what's not to love?

I'm sure your own market is the result of hard work and investment over many years, rather walkng into a market created by the breed's reputation.

[Rossco]

What I struggle with...apart from supply is the benefit of joining the society. I have seen members using the society logo and butchers selling boxes of Dexter beef with out the logo on Facebook for exactly the same price. If there is no provenance of the society and logo even as a mark of quality that you get with Aberdeen Angus for example then where is the benefit to the member?

Linger assessment and all that other stuff that is now creeping in is great in principle they are trying to bring it into the sheep society as well but again sheep that have been assessed are selling for the same price as non assessed sheep. Going for quality and the next big thing has to result in better selling prices but I'm just not seeing this in reality. What is clear is that being able to market your product is the key regardless of quantity?

[Jac]

What I struggle with...apart from supply is the benefit of joining the society.

Perhaps you should review the reason(s) why you joined the Society in the first place. Have your ideas changed since you paid your first membership fee?

I have seen members using the society logo and butchers selling boxes of Dexter beef with out the logo on Facebook for exactly the same price. If there is no provenance of the society and logo even as a mark of quality that you get with Aberdeen Angus for example then where is the benefit to the member?

My observations are that there are many who have been 'carried away' with this beef movement. I can see no benefit whatsoever to the member joining simply to produce beef as things stand at present. I don't think the public are aware that beef advertised as Aberdeen Angus needs only to be sired by an Aberdeen Angus unlike the Dexter. Clearly, it is not practical to use a Dexter bull (in the flesh) to sire offspring born to commercial size cows. Whether the Society will at some point in the future relax the regulations for 'the Mark' and try it the other way round 'it's Dexter beef if it is born to a registered Dexter cow' meaning that a commercial bull could be used to increase weights making it more acceptable to the commercial market?

[Rossco]

I did join the society before I purchased my first Dexter cows, it was round about the time of the recent unpleasantries and I never got a renewal through the post so my membership naturally elapsed and I decided not to rejoin until things settled down again.

I now have stock and am wondering if rejoining is the right thing to do, but I'm currently unconvinced of the merits in doing so.

My initial plans are to supply my own freezer with longer term plan or dream to build up a herd for the freezer and private sale either by the box or find a local hotel that would be interested. Having some dairy experience I am also toying with the notion of maybe utilising their milk as well for private use.

[Jac]

... I decided not to rejoin until things settled down again.

I wouldn't let that put you off - all families have their ups and downs from time to time. The Area Groups are the glue that hold the Society together it is a shame that there are none currently operating in your region. Perhaps an opportunity to get things going again?

[Rob R]

I am member to register pedigree stock, and they do this well. I use the online herdbook frequently to look up animal details, and with a smartphone I can even do this out in the field. When I was building up numbers I kept some unregistered breeding stock but now I find these anomalies impractical and they're gradually being beefed out of the herd, with no new unregistered stock coming in. There are too many Dexters of dubious origin out there so I'd encourage anyone who plans to buy in unregistered stock to kill but the last thing anyone needs is more of them being bred, as we don't want them.

[Jac]

There are too many Dexters of dubious origin out there so I'd encourage anyone who plans to buy in unregistered stock to kill but the last thing anyone needs is more of them being bred, as we don't want them.

Why is anybody bothering to register them to kill?

[Rob R]

There are too many Dexters of dubious origin out there so I'd encourage anyone who plans to buy in unregistered stock to kill but the last thing anyone needs is more of them being bred, as we don't want them.

Why is anybody bothering to register them to kill?

When I say unregistered I'm also referring to unnotified stock.

[Boofarm]

Returning to the subject of the Dexter Beef Breakdown and looking at the differences in weights obtained for non-short animals do they all fall within the height guidelines according to the current breed standard? The non-short male of mine (about 24 months) was not (offspring of short to non-short). The heifer (about 27 months?) looked as if it would finish within the standard (offspring of non-short to non-short).

Well now - where do you want to draw this line? (sorry) - we have taken store animals off 2 separate breeders plus our own calves - all are finishing at over 200kg under 30 months off grass. All are registed / birth notified - stricter than other accreditation schemes.

As an aside we have also delivered OTM steers for others and they made our boys look like runts.

Am I now to phone customers to tell them that we cannot sell them Dexter Beef because it is a quarter of an inch too tall??

Sorry but lets leave that one at the showring

[Boofarm]

What I struggle with...apart from supply is the benefit of joining the society. I have seen members using the society logo and butchers selling boxes of Dexter beef with out the logo on Facebook for exactly the same price. If there is no provenance of the society and logo even as a mark of quality that you get with Aberdeen Angus for example then where is the benefit to the member?

Linger assessment and all that other stuff that is now creeping in is great in principle they are trying to bring it into the sheep society as well but again sheep that have been assessed are selling for the same price as non assessed sheep. Going for quality and the next big thing has to result in better selling prices but I'm just not seeing this in reality. What is clear is that being able to market your product is the key regardless of quantity?

The benefit in joining the society is in keeping your marketing options open - by joining the society and registering stock you can sell them to anyone.

If they are not registered and you try to sell live then you are on preloved and facebook and will get no interest at all from anyone looking for registered breeding stock.

The same with the Dexter Beef Assurance scheme - it is actually much tighter than the AA scheme but I am not sure that it is enforced in any way. However it is a little naive to expect anyone to pay more for a product simply because it comes with a sticker - a premium will only come when there is demand and people are looking for the product as opposed to producers trying to market it.

When was the last time anyone saw an advert "Dexter Beef Wanted"?

[Boofarm]

I kept some unregistered breeding stock but now I find these anomalies impractical and they're gradually being beefed out of the herd, with no new unregistered stock coming in. There are too many Dexters of dubious origin out there so I'd encourage anyone who plans to buy in unregistered stock to kill but the last thing anyone needs is more of them being bred, as we don't want them.

Agreed - we have unregistered cows but they are outcrossed and do not see a Dexter Bull