Rambling with the Irish Rare Breeds: The Dexter

We're here in Timoho, County Kildare, on a small farm with a herd of Dexter cattle. So this was a tree nursery. I've been farming Dexters here for 10 years. There are two types, they're short and non-short, and they come in three colours, black, red and dun. So the Dexter cattle are a native Irish breed. They were bred from the Kerry cattle. They had all but died out in Ireland, but had been exported to the UK in the 1880s and from there they spread all over the world, but at the same time they were dying out in Ireland. The breed was reintroduced from the UK around the year 2000 and has grown rapidly since then. They're very hardy, very healthy. They will live outside for the winter if you have very dry sheltered ground, so they're suitable for conservation grazing. They're a curious breed as well. They have very rich milk. Their meat is a sought-after product in the restaurant business. We aim to finish our animals on grass with no meal intervention, so that makes them very desirable. The non-short, which is the larger one, is 180 to 200 kgs carcass. For the short, it's 130 to 150 kgs at 30 months. In many cases, they're being produced in areas where grass isn't the best. We are about to develop a brand for Dexter beef. We're working on a marketing strategy so that the beef can be promoted to the consumer.