Anyone exit Suckler system??

Packrat

@Jjameson I'm not going to contradict your opinion of dairy cross beef because I've not particularly knowingly eaten it as steak, but I'll ask this: Why hasn't it won any awards in taste tests, world steak competitions etc?

We have a breed here that most of you lads scoff at but which has stood up to and regularly beaten the famed Kobe beef across the planet, that some of the top chefs across the world insist on - Dexter.

I've tried every one of the main 'top beef' options both in great restaurants and at home, and none had the flavour to match it.

Yet it's largely ignored here... Baffling.

cute geoge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032850#Comment_121032850

I saw a few dexta cross 2 yo heifers in the mart 300kg made 500 and you ask why dexta are ignored

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032877#Comment_121032877

Crosses make sfa because they can't be bred or registered nor sent as beef to the one outlet we have which is the ABP quarterly kill.

Anyone buying Dexters wants registered stock.

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032877#Comment_121032877

The meat is very good though.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032898#Comment_121032898

You answered your own question on why it is ignored. If you cannot go main stream and that is dependent on breeding it off other cow breeds with it then it's a niche market. Niche markets can be great for breeders but not much use to commercial producers.

Add to that the animal has a carcasses DW of 150 ish kgs at 24 months. You would want a 7-8/kg DW price for it to be any way commercial

Rusheseverywhere

Alot of BS in my opinion about AA and HE, cynic might wonder why they chose breeeds that suit the dairy herd to push. Intersting in NZ where they use ultrasound to assess and grade carcasses with ultrasound for marlbing etc SI is top. Never hear too many arguments abut chicken breeds or lamb breeds or pig breeds; beef is pretty much beef. Have distant family in high end restaturants and main factor is how long the beef is aged for in their opinion. Also more on track I cut, am cutting down to 20 cows from up on 60. Going weanling to beef route. Cows too expensive and I am in organics and the bastards wont stop eating the straw bedding bill gone stupid,. Too expensive keep cow not unless you have good U grade weanlings. HAd plenty R+/U grade range and I find they are no longer good enough for the market to get the top and needed prices. REst go next year in Spring, tax bill if sell the lot. Also to be honest gettign fed up with farming and think cows that have me most fed up as always something with them. Dry stock you could check every 3 days, know lots farm that way.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/simmental-tops-angus-for-eating-quality-beef-lamb-trial-shows/H57QUSFLHDED7Z4UXIL44JNDDE/

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032979#Comment_121032979

It doesn't have to be a niche market. Why would anyone who can tell the difference and can afford it (which may Irish today can) eat mediocre beef rather than a world class product.

Also - anyone killing Dexters at 24 months hasn't an iota what they're at.

A carcass weight of 220 is achievable at 30 to 36.

The profit in an animal (as you know better than most) depends on the input costs as much as the overall price.

I've a Dx bullock here which at 30 months has cost me very little. As Organic beef he's worth from 1200 to over 2k depending on what I decide to do with him.

Siamsa Sessions

I’ve no opinion on which breed makes the best steak but neither do I believe competitions prove anything.

They’re often sponsored by vested interests or are part of industry events. Equally I’m guessing they’ve the best of whatever breed they’re comparing which is unlikely to be representative of that breed as a whole.

They’re like Miss World competitions where they’re all lovely girls and picking one over the other is more a personal preference

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121033178#Comment_121033178

There would be quite a bit of that alright, - like the distillery tastings for the yanks proving that Irish whiskey is better by putting Midleton VR up against Jack Daniels and some low end Scotch.

My own opinion is that Dexter tastes miles better than the competition but that you really have to finish it and age it perfectly to get tenderness whereas Angus will nearly always be tender. 30 months plus is when they develop the spider marbling.

The continentals are too lean full stop ie no taste at all.

I know only one person who specifically buys that and she can't cook properly.

Hard Knocks

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121033221#Comment_121033221

Supposedly a 4/5yo cow after having 2/3 calves is the supreme.

Base price

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121033221#Comment_121033221

Years ago on a visit to the Bordeaux region of France I went to a local butcher shop along with my friend who I was staying with. A lady came into the shop and asked for a roast for Sunday dinner. The butcher took a piece of pure lean beef and wrapped with what looked like kitchen towel. The kitchen towel was actually rendered fat which is used for roasting beef as the continental meat is so lean.

Edit to add - the beef came from a 16yo purebred Blonde cow that was hanging in his walk in fridge. The outer beef was black in colour due to hanging for 30+ days.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121033494#Comment_121033494

Yep. That'd work, - not many go to that trouble though.

DukeCaboom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121032877#Comment_121032877

There was a cow in bandon in the spring 200kg made 80 euro. She was fat as a snail and kinda looked like a sheep.

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121033221#Comment_121033221

What converted me to Dexta was a burger I had in Hobans Pub in Westport a couple of years ago - blew me away the flavour and quality

Danzy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121034264#Comment_121034264

Any I have seen are very docile, that said some might be treated more like mountain sheep and not used to seeing people.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121034207#Comment_121034207

Yes, I eat them all the time at home but have also had them in Hobans.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121034264#Comment_121034264

Yes and no. If you're around them they turn into absolute pets. If you ignore them for weeks they'll be like deer.

Base price

Right lads/lassies - I thought a Dexta was a tractor whilst a Dexter is a native/indigenous breed of cattle. Good luck to ye's for chewing a Dexta burger 😀

green daries

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121034934#Comment_121034934

😀😀😀👌👌👌

Anto_Meath

@Hard Knocks yes I have often heard that too, a first or second calved cow is meant to have the nicest beef. There is a lad at the local mart will buy any young cow heifer (often pay more per kg than any heifer) for these types. He is supposed to be buying for some place in the Midlands that supplies a lot of high end restaurants. I don't know but I do know if anyone around here has a cow heifer (under 48 months) they bring them to the Mart for a better price than you would get in any factory.

50HX

@Hard Knocks is it possible he's getting them in up north as heifers..I sold 2 young cows in gortatlea 2 years ago and the made more than In factory

I was told few months after there was a "deal" goin on with processors up north

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121039619#Comment_121039619

Northern processors have no access to the Irish CMS. Ya tight young suckler cows are often killed up north as heifers. Saw a good few middle of the road suckler yearlings ( only 2-3 months old according to the details on screen) technically off Friesian cows go through the marts this year so I suspect there is ways around it down here too

josephsoap

https://www.farmersjournal.ie/in-pictures-herbie-s-heifers-hit-6-000-in-carrigallen-780519

no shortage of cash with some suckler farmers, better than giving it to the tax man I suppose 😅😅

Anto_Meath

@JoesphSoap there's mad money been flung around (and lost) on these fancy heifers. Seen recently a heifer which sold for €6K at a show & sale last back end sold in a similar sale for €5,500 recently & by the looks of her she ate alot more than grass for the last 10 months. I would guess she blew well over €1,000 & I would say there is many similar to her. A heifer I sold & got €2,000 for, she sold as an incalf heifer almost a year later in one of these sales for €2,600, for all the risk, work & feed she wouldn't have left alot of money either.

patsy_mccabe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121046109#Comment_121046109

They're nice type heifers, in fairness. Not overly fat either. Crazy money though.

DBK1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121046801#Comment_121046801

As a man said to me one time about them type of prices for stock, “some lads play golf at the weekends, some lads take drugs and some lads buy fancy show stock, they’ll all empty your bank account just the same!”

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121034207#Comment_121034207

That burger had lots of seasoning and extras added, people talking about which is the best steak and best beef it’s all down to personal choice, some say marbling is the best, rib beef, Dexter, Holstein etc, it’s down to the way it’s slaughtered, hung ( on the H bone etc) the chill, the carcass set, and the big thing is the way the carcass is boned out and cut up. Talking about restaurants which are the best for steak a lot of people don’t how tell the difference in the cuts like filet etc. recently had young char Cow beef in France which was nice and lean which the family like and was cut directly from the joint to the thickness you want and that was in a supermarket at the counter, then Rouge label lim from the butcher which was fantastic and then young bull beef and all top quality. Also it’s how beef is cooked is a big factor.

Sheep breeder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121049726#Comment_121049726

Agree what you’re saying about these heifers, crazy money being given for fancy one. It’s a cycle of types the roan fashion, a couple years ago the red sim, or red lim. It’s a hobby for a lot of lads. A young fella local bought two incalf heifers out of the tractor sweet shop in the north, one was a zip job and the other wouldn’t feed a kitten form big money, was telling everyone no cattle like them in the local marts and they south bought. Next year it will be another colour.

Packrat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121050764#Comment_121050764

Yes, burgers aren't the true test of any beef but Dexter steak has a much beefier flavour than any other I've tried and I eat a lot of steak.

I agree that the animals temperament at slaughter, the hanging and aging process, as well as what it's fed, all have an effect on tenderness and taste.

Marbling/some fat is well accepted as adding flavour, that's not in dispute by anyone anymore.

Obviously the way it's cooked is one of the biggest factors.

Niallers87

Some money given for these types of heifers in Elphin yesterday, I can only assume lads must be planning on flushing them but drugs to do that seem to becoming scarcer to get

Birdnuts

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121051638#Comment_121051638

Yes - I tried a steak in Croatia from a traditional local breed reared in Wild Lavender fields many years ago on holiday, amazing flavour and taste!!