Kind of bummed out of late (Dexters)

[GaDexFarmer]

Over the past three years since moving to the country I've established a beautiful herd of Dexter Cattle (8 total ) that I've very proud of. After what I thought was extensive research on my part to pick the right breed for my small homestead (10 acres) I've found them to be hard to sell in my area, and I beginning to wonder in I made the right choice.

Although I didn't get into it totally for the money I'm not sure I wouldn't have been better off buying bred commercial cows instead of a unique registered breed. I've got two young bulls that I need to sell now, but haven't had any offers on them. (Although I haven't posted them here yet ;-) ) Both are fine bulls (one 15th month old and the other 5 months) after posting them on a couple of websites I think I've decided to take him to the local auction to see what I can get for him. I weighted him at some local scales the other day, and he came in a 520lbs. I'd hope I could get at least $500 for him which wouldn't be bad considering I'd probably only get a little more than that selling to a private buyer looking for Dexter's. Not everyone needs bulls compared to heifers and cows. Depending how he does at the market will probably determine what I do with the younger one. If it doesn't sell well I might just keep it for the family.

After living in the military my whole life and moving from place to place my haste to live the country life may have resulted in a bad decision. On the bright side I have a friend close by who has around 40 acres who said I could use it free of charge if I take care of it. A lot of work (fencing etc..), but nothing comes free without it. I'd like to start a commercial herd of bred cows, and then maybe raise something like a herd of Boer goats on my smaller piece of property after I sell my Dexter's. Hope this post helps other Beginners. Not trying to sway anyone away from Dexter's. They are great cows! (very docile), but just make sure you have a market for them in your area. They seem to be just catching on in the Southeast.

Any advise is appreciated!

 

[BAGTIC]

Which websites did you post them on?

 

[Little Cow]

Hey there,

I'm in Northern Florida, not too far from Georgia, and will need to buy a Dexter bull this spring/summer, (we need to get the bull pen ready first). PM me info on your 'boys'. If you are trying to sell any cows or heifers, I might be interested in a few of those as well.

I think there is a chat board dedicated to Dexters. Might also be a good place to get the word out. Any other Dexter breeders have the site? I don't.

Last thought: Talk to your extension agent, join your local cattlemen's association and put the word out to breeders of standard sized cattle that your bulls can safely breed their registered heifers and ensure they have a nice easy calf their first year. Some folks like to do that. When you have a lesser known breed, (even the big ones), you have to CREATE the market, or try to match what is already for sale in your area. Matching is easier.

Like you, we have a small amount of land, (35 acres total), so we can raise more Dexters than larger breeds on our land. If I still had my Char/Angus crosses, I'd max out at half the number of Dexters I could raise. And that was, afterall, their original use, (small farms in Ireland).

My husband and I are just out of the military as well. I had some cattle while I was in, (wasn't too hard to find someone to watch over them while I was deployed), so I'm not starting out brand new. We have other sources of income, so we aren't dependent on the cattle. Since we're trying to raise seedstock, we figure it's going to be five to ten years, at least, before there is a decent market, (with hard work on our part to create that market), and we have a good reputation for the cattle we raise.

Last thought: If worst comes to worst, nice thing about cattle is, you can always eat 'em! :lol:

 

[Gale Seddon]

GaDexFarmer, I feel your pain. I think it can be difficult to sell bulls, whatever the breed, and something best left to those who specialize in breeding bulls for herd sires. Little Cow has some very good suggestions. Traffic on the Dexter Yahoo boards is intermittent, at best. Have you checked with your regional director; she may know of someone looking for a bull (go to the http://www.dextercattle.org and look under Officers/Directors. If you take a Dexter bull (or a Dexter anything) to a livestock auction (unless it's a special sale for exotics or something), you'll get slammed for horns as well as size. I could be way off here, but seriously doubt you'll get anything close to $500.

Keeping extra bulls around in hopes of selling them can be a real management problem (separate pastures, etc.) because you can't jeopardize your breeding program by running more than one bull with your cows and not knowing which bull sired which calf (and I would not want to rely on standard DNA parentage testing with closely related animals). Several years back, we had 6 calves born and 5 were bulls. I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but people came looking for an animal to finish for their own beef, so I no longer worry about having too many bull calves. That would be my suggestion: have the vet out to castrate them and advertise them as beef animals to finish, or finish them yourself and split them among family and friends. Word of mouth is a powerful thing and Dexter beef is good.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Don't take them to the sales-- lucky if you get $250 for them.

Cut them- grow them out-find a processor and advertise for "natural" freezer beef from conservation breed herd.

 

[IL Rancher]

520 pound Dexter bull will bring the about 10 bucks a hundred weight less the cull bulls at your sale on a per pound basis. Have sold one that way just to get rid of him. Think he brough 420 or so dollar but he was 765 pounds for all of 55 a cwt last year... A half blood bull sold at the same time for 62 a hundred which was still a bit less than the 68 an injured, fat Maine Anjou bul brought..

 

[S.R.R.]

Don't take them to the sales-- lucky if you get $250 for them.

Cut them- grow them out-find a processor and advertise for "natural" freezer beef from conservation breed herd.

See above and then give your head a shake and buy some cows that are wanted in your area!!!!

I have seen and heard of far to many folks that go for the exotics or rare breeds and then end up with more money out then taken in. Take the money from what you get out of your Dexters and buy good cows of a breed that is popular in your area.

Sorry for your mistake do not feel bad we have all done it one time or another!!

 

[HOSS]

I am looking for a breeding age red dexter bull. PM me if you have one for sale.

 

[Rustler9]

Ga Dex Farmer,
You may not have made a mistake by getting into Dexters if you like the breed and will dedicate yourself to promoting them. I'll tell you like I told someone who bought some registered Longhorns from me and then a year later was whining because he hadn't sold any of them to anyone. He had not been to any registered sales, no shows, had not tried to promote them or let anyone know that he had Longhorn cattle. No advertising in our national publication, had not attended any regional field days that he was invited to and done any net working with other Longhorn breeders. I told this person when he bought them that if he wanted sale barn cattle that he should get some black commercial cattle. Of course, this person had never had cattle before and I also strongly suggested that he get some hay as well as salt and minerals for them.

I would think that Dexters would be something that you would have to establish a niche market for. It also takes a while to get your name and reputation out there. One thing we've done besides attending a lot of Longhorn events-sales, shows, field days and going to other breeder's farms is to set up a web site. We're getting more traffice now and selling more cattle. Just some suggestions and some things that have worked for us. The mainstream market seems to be black anything but that's not what we wanted to go for. We've had to help create a market for our animals and we're still working on it.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Go to the American Dexter Cattle Association website: http://www.dextercattle.org They have a very informative site and they publish a listing of members. You may need to join the ADCA to get a list, however. There are quite a few members across the USA.

With our program we advertise our program via:

• 1. Website
  2. Monthly journal advs in TLBAA Trails and ITLA Drover.
  3. Have a variety of leaflets & brochures we mail to prospects
  4. Network via phone and occasional Show event
  5. Occasional adv in local newspapers
  6. List our program on a variety of "free" and low cost website "classifieds"
  7. Periodically mail out a Newsletter to others
  8. Occasionally post a flier on a public bulletin board (feed store, Vet, etc.)
  9. Mail out literature to Vets in our region
  10. Post on a variety of "messageboards" for our cattle and horses
  
  The possibilities are endless.
  
  It can take 1-2 years of promotion for people to "really" catch on about your program. Lot of competition out there.
  
  Dexters (as are Longhorns) are a nitch market...exploit it.
  
  Best of wishes with your program!
  
  

 

[GaDexFarmer]

Thanks for all the kind replies. I think most hit it on the head about advertising. I need to be more aggressive in that department (Webpage, local paper, etc..) I'm a member of the ADCA and all my cows are register with them.

I was just somewhat surprised when I posted them on a few deters webpages on yahoo with no replies. I got the most here by far just over two days. Also upload some pictures in the photo section under Muddy River Farms. Yall check them out and let me know what you think.

Taking them to the auction would be my last option. I've had quite a few people tell me, "you should make steak out of them," but I don't know how serious they were. Thought about getting the word out in the local churches and work (city slickers) about buying some of the meat. Figuring out what to charge for it is opening another can of worms. (Maybe I'll start another post, or do a search on CT)

My only concern about keeping them is space. As mentioned previously I only have ten acres at the moment. The claim is 2 Deters per acre, so I could hold close to 20 in a perfect world, but that depends on the weather. Last year the drought had me buying hay in July. Hopefully I'll have the other 40 fenced soon.

Little Cow and Hoss I'll send you individual PMs as to the specifics we have for sale.

Thanks again

 

[BAGTIC]

There has been a split in the community of Dexter breeders with the result that there are now two Dexter associations.

Try this link. I believe it is the most active breed link and doesn't take sides in the internal dispute.

http://www.dakodan.net/dexters/forum/in ... 5b6a9f0a3c