Are Dexters a Fad?

A few days ago a question was raised on a post over at Homesteading Today. The question was, "How long will they last?" The "they" was referring to dairy cows. Of course depending on whether or not it is a commercial operation or a home cow the time can vary from a few lactations to a quite a few years. But, when the idea of Dexters lasting a long time was brought up the responses weren't all daisies and roses. And I admit that I threw my two cents into the fray in defense of Dexters. Not that they were a better breed, but that they were an option for the small land holder looking for a dual purpose cow. You can read the thread and my comments by clicking on the link above.

One statement that was brought up is that the Dexter bred shows all the signs of being another "fad" breed. That one really got me going, because I know that from a historical standpoint they have been around for quite awhile (going back to their origins in Ireland) and the reason for their longevity has a lot to do with their usefulness. Just because their numbers have dropped off over time does not mean that they are not a viable option in certain situations it more than likely means that they didn't fit the industrial model of agriculture. They have even been in Iowa for almost a hundred years now! But, continuing the argument wasn't the reason I brought it up today...

The reason I bring it up today is because I thought about the question, "what if they really are a fad?" I know this is something I have thought about at different times, in fact I even blogged about it once before. What if the bottom of the market falls out in the Dexter world? What happens when nobody wants to buy my extra heifers or older cows? Am I going to end up with some high priced "lawn ornaments" as one poster mentioned on Homesteading Today?

Well, I think I have come to a conclusion and I'm going to run with it ... WHO CARES! I am not going to throw myself into the seedstock business. Of course I will sell some cows or heifers from time to time and maybe even some bulls if I have a notion, but the reason I chose to go with the Dexter breed is because I wanted to produce beef that I could direct market. And I believed and still believe the Dexter suits my needs the best.

After everything is all said and done on our new land we will probably have around 23 acres of pasture. You could not run a very big herd of commercial cattle on that acreage, but because of the size and forage conversion abilities of Dexters we can run a few more head. Also, from everything I have read, heard, and experienced these Dexters are great foragers and good gainers on pasture ... of course that speaks to their heritage as a small cottage or farm cow in Ireland.

But, most importantly I have tasted and I have read great things about their meat and their ability to finish on grass. And that is the main reason I went with Dexters, because I want people to eat them! Of course there are the health benefits of eating grassfed beef, there are many articles and books to point that out. But, how about this for a healthy marketing angle ... Dexters are smaller, so their portions are going to be smaller. Portion control is one of the many buzz words in the health and dieting community today, so I can market my beef in a few ways.

First of all it will be grassfed. You are what you eat is the saying ... cows eat grass, so they are grass ... we eat cows, so we are grass ... grass is a lot like salad and my teachers told me salad is good for me! Secondly, I can tout the benefits of being able to buy the whole steer, not just a half or a quarter. That way you will get all of the cuts instead of just 1/2 or 1/4. It is almost the ultimate freezer beef in my opinion. Third, there is the portion control angle. You can still have your steak, but you don't have to have one the size of your dinner plate (and you probably shouldn't no matter how it was raised). And finally, I can market the fact that Dexters are a heritage breed that deserves to be maintained for so many reasons (I don't want to list them now).

I don't think Dexters are a fad that will come and go. I also don't believe they will become a commercial mainstay. But, I do believe they are a great option for our farm and many other farms like ours. I also believe they are a great choice for families freezers all around me ... and I will be working to convince them of that!

If they are a fad ... WHO CARES ... I have a plan. But, they are not a fad :)

Purebreed Livestock or Not...

Lately as I have been my family and I have been thinking about adding livestock to the farm, other than the cattle or horses, I have been pondering the idea of having purebred herds or just grade market herds. If you have been following the blog for awhile you will remember that we are specifically thinking about adding hogs or sheep in the not to distant future. But, should we try and go with purebred breed or just a market/grade/crossbreed?

Right now we are somewhat locked into purebreds with our Dexters. We now have nine registered cows/heifers and are in the process of looking for a herd bull so it is important to me that our bull is registered also. I don't think it would be wise to crossbreed the Dexters that we have now, but we could always try and go another route in the future. But, I like the direction that the Dexters will take us and I love the many great aspects of the specific breed ... for the time being we will only have a purebred registered cattle herd.

I know that Joel Salatin and some of the other authors along his lines (Allan Nation, Gene Logsdon, etc.) would probably advise having crossbred or grade livestock rather than registered purebred animals for a few reasons. One of those factors might be plain old cost, but another and possibly more interesting factor is the idea of "hybrid vigor" or heterosis. Basically the idea of hybrid vigor is that if you cross two distinct breeds you will gain the best of those two specific breeds. There is a whole genetic basis for this and all sorts of good smart people facts and figures on the topic so I suggest you check the link above for a basic overview of the topic.

Also, if you would like to know more about crossbreeding systems or other reasons for having a crossbreeding program I encourage you to check out this LINK from Virginia Tech University. It gives some great information and goes into greater detail.

While I find the whole heterosis idea interesting the financial thing does speak very loudly to me. Most of the time you will have to pay a greater price to have the registered animals. Thus it will take more money, and in my case a longer time, to build up the herd to the size you would like. I intend on having a closed herd once we have built it up, but it does take outside animals to get to that point. As we look at sheep and hogs the higher prices do seem a bit daunting ... especially when we are talking about edible animals. Most people don't care if they are eating a Dexter burger, Angus burger, or whatever the steers parentage is burger (notice I said most people because I think Dexter burgers are the best!). With that in mind it is difficult to go the purebred route (again, I realize that I already have gone that route).

One thing really keeps drawing me to the registered livestock side of things though ... heritage breeds. History is my passion and keeping history alive is equally part of that passion so I have been drawn to the heritage breeds from the beginning. I have a couple of thoughts that I will just through out there about these breeds... First of all, I think it is important to keep these breeds going because they are an important part of our human history and a link to that history. If we don't remember our history ... well, that is just a bad thing! But, it is also important I believe to remember that these heritage breeds were developed and raised under the exact (or close to it) conditions that I wish to farm within. Many were selected (all breeds are crossbreeds at some point) because they were good foragers, were hardy, easy breeders, good mothers, and on and on and on. So, if it worked then I don't see why it can't work today.

I still haven't decided which direction to go, but it is an interesting debate in my mind nonetheless.

**The picture at the top is of an Ossabaw Island Pig at the Living History Farms in Iowa. They have them at the Living History Farms because they are similar to what an 1850's pig would look like**