Do Dexters Sell Well?

[journeyman]

Sorry ... I haven't logged in for a while ... but please, can I ask you for your patience as well as your information?

Do Dexters sell well?

[agmantoo]

No, if you refer to the commercial market. Yes, If you find someone that wants pasture ornaments or niche market animals. Do not buy them if you expect to sell at an auction barn. If you want to sell privately and have time to locate a buyer you will be OK.

[ebook]

"Pasture Ornaments" ... Ouch! Maybe they aren't like a big continental breed or as popular as other "black" cattle, but there is a market and I'm not sure it is super difficult to crack. It always seems like the Dexters I go after are already sold by the time that I get to them!

But, I agree with agmantoo ... we need to know what you are planning on doing with them? Regardless you will have to educate people whether you want to sell them as beef, for milking, or as seedstock just because they are a minor breed and not as well know. And, he is right, don't expect them to sell on the commerical market.

But, "pasture ornament" ... If that is what I wanted I would get a horse! LOL

[65284]

Agreed, not commercial animals. But if you WORK the niche market you can do well. I just sold 5 cows ranging in age from 2-8 yo for $6,000.00. That's not unusual, I generally get 11-12 hundred for cows. We also do pretty well with freezer beef sales, halves at a time. I too, take exception the the "pasture ornament" crack. They are a very viable breed if properly marketed. Cattle don't have to weigh a ton to be useful and profitable, especially for the person without a lot of land!

[linn]

Pasture ornaments? My little milk cow is raising her calf and furnishing us with milk for the house. But they are right about the commercial and niche market. If you are expecting to sell your Dexters, make sure they are good, registered stock for the best chance of marketing.

[Slev]

I guess there will always be those people out there that just don't get Dexters. But that's ok. I think if they were worthless, they would be history by now, ...rather than preserving history. I'm personally glad they were under the radar when all of the growth hormones were injected in just about every popular breed.

[Caleob K.]

Originally Posted by ebook

It always seems like the Dexters I go after are already sold by the time that I get to them!

I just bought my first Dexter and I can corroborate ebook's experience. It was rough finding a Dexter for sale that wasn't sold by the time I heard about it. Some areas of the country might be different though.

[Wendy]

I agree! It took me quite a while to find a Dexter here. I actually had one come in from northern Indiana & the other was from Ohio. There just aren't a lot around here. I got ours for milk & meat. We don't have a lot of acreage & they work for us.

[swtucker]

We would like to get a dual purpose breed and have considered the dexter. Looks like you either love them or hate them. We don't have many acres and that is one of the main reasons I am considering the breed. Anyone have recommendations for sellers in the DFW area or North Texas? And if you get one for milking does it need to have a strong bloodline of milkers?

Thanks,
Shawn

[furholler]

Originally Posted by 65284

Agreed, not commercial animals. But if you WORK the niche market you can do well. I just sold 5 cows ranging in age from 2-8 yo for $6,000.00. That's not unusual, I generally get 11-12 hundred for cows. We also do pretty well with freezer beef sales, halves at a time. I too, take exception the the "pasture ornament" crack. They are a very viable breed if properly marketed. Cattle don't have to weigh a ton to be useful and profitable, especially for the person without a lot of land!

Amen! For those that might be interested, keep your eyes open as I will be selling a pregnant heiffer soon.

[ebook]

swtucker -

I don't know my in Texas geography very well, but if you go to this SITE and scroll down to Texas you will find multiple breeders websites. That would be a good place to check first and then maybe they could help you go from there.

[Carol K]

SW Tucker, contact Jonny Morris for Dexters in your area
morrisfarm@hughes.net He's a good guy.

Carol

[darbyfamily]

I only WISH I could find a dexter at Auction... not gonna happen.... *I* dont think they'd be hard to sell, provided you have the right connections and all that.

[RosewoodfarmVA]

Dexter is a good choice for "homesteading" purposes, but not for income producing purposes. Around here no one wants a "mini cow" because they think practically, and have no use for something that has 1/3 the meat and 1/3 the milk as a standard breed. Kindof like these people that have so many horses....it's primarily a pleasure animal, not income producing. Yes you might find someone willing to buy Dexters from you (not around here) but you have a very small market and it will be difficult to break even, much less make any money from them. Then again if your only purpose is meat and milk for yourself then a Dexter herd may be suitable.

[genebo]

In my part of Virginia, Dexters sell pretty well. You probably couldn't sell them to someone with 100 acres very often. They're already conditioned to the large size. You wouldn't want to sell them at an auction house, becaus there they would be labeled as "stunted" and the price would be abysmally low.

However, if you have limited acreage, then they really do make sense. The same thing happened in the apple orchards about 30 years ago. Dwarf trees were resisted for a long time. Now most of the orchards have switched over.

I have 10 acres fenced for cattle. That's enough to hold 3 Angus. I'd get 3 calves per year out of them. Unless the calves sold for ridiculously high prices, that's not much income. On the same acreage, I run 7 Dexters. A bull and six cows. They're pretty sef-sustaining. Each year I get 6 calves. I sell the calves at weaning. Now the funny part; I get about the same price for a Dexter calf that I would get for an Angus calf of the same age.

Add to that the beef quality of Dexters and you have a potential better market than that. If I sold my pasture raised, all natural, hormone-free, antibiotic-free cattle as beef I could get much more income. A friend in North Carolina makes a living doing that, on 40 acres.

A side of Dexter beef should bring about the same price as a side of Angus beef. Even though you'll be selling only a little more than 1/2 the amount of meat (Dexters yield a little better and weigh about 1/2 as much). Dexter beef has been judged to be the best tasting of all beef.

There's also an all-Dexter dairy in New York that is doing very well. There's a hungry market for the milk and cheeses that they produce.

A traditional beef farm needs Angus as it's backbone. The auction houses are geared for it and the marketing system is there. If you have enough land to make it work, then you probably should go that way.

But if you're a small operation, wanting to raise cattle on a small scale, you're best off with small cattle. Dexters are the most affordable of the mini sized cows available and are useful for more than one purpose. They're gentle natured and easy to handle. Plus you'd be helping to preserve a rare breed.

These are the reasons I chose Dexters. I live next door to a 105 acre Angus farm and help out there. We're always comparing figures on our operations. He says he couldn't live on the little amount that I make off of my small farm, but concedes that I'm more profitable than he is. In my small way. With my small cattle.

He's beginning to dabble in Lowline Angus now. He may eventually switch.

Genebo
Paradise Farm

[Wanda]

What does everyone do with all of the bullcalfs? There has to be a lot of those that have to go to the salebarn.

[65284]

Originally Posted by Wanda

What does everyone do with all of the bullcalfs? There has to be a lot of those that have to go to the salebarn.

Absolute no reason to send them to the sale barn. We steer them and feed them out. We do very well selling halves.

They are just right for a small family who couldn't eat up 1/2 a Angus or some other large breed but still want all of the cuts found in a half.

A half will fit into an average size home freezer with no trouble. And folks don't have to take out a second mortgage on the homestead to buy one.

And last but not least, if a breeder works at it, folks will eagerly buy and pay a premium for beef they know is injected hormone free, well treated and well fed.

The problem isn't with Dexters it's with the people afflicted with the " iffen it ain't huge it ain't a real cow" mentality. They simply can't bring themselves to admit there might be a viable breed other than what they raise.

[Dutchie]

I run Dexters and love it. They are low maintenance and as a niche beef market they are fantastic.

[MariaAZ]

After reading this thread, it would seem to me that geography might dictate to some degree how marketable the breed is. For example, if your market is mostly larger farms, maybe Dexters might not sell well. But, if you are in travelling distance from areas with lots of smaller hobby farms, maybe the market would be stronger.

[Jcran]

I got my Dexter for free off of Craigslist; evidently she was escaping her organic farm and eating all the neighbor farm's organic starts...she was/is a 6 year old heifer, but she is palpated preggers so we are hoping for a calf and some homestead milk at the end of June.