Oliver Davey farms 28 pedigree organic Dexter cows ouside Tubbercurry in Co Sligo. The average cow liveweight is just 380kg.
Oliver Davey farms 28 pedigree organic Dexter cows ouside Tubbercurry in Co Sligo. The average cow liveweight is just 380kg.
The first thing you notice is just how milky they are. They are also very protective of their calves, so getting too close was not an option. It reminded me of the scene in Fr Ted where Ted describes to Dougal the difference between cows that are small and cows that are far away – the Dexters, however, were both!
The average height of a mature cow is just over 3ft tall and they weigh around 380kg.
When asked why he was farming Dexter cattle, Oliver had a simple answer: “We are farming very marginal land and the smaller Dexter cow is ideally suited to it – there is less poaching of ground and it means we can keep cattle out at grass for a longer grazing season”
Oliver got involved on the family farm when he moved home from abroad in 1984. For the first number of years, the farm operated a suckler-to-weanling system with Charolais, Limousin and Simmental type cattle.
Oliver says they are lighter on the land and this extends the length of the grazing season.
A changing of the rainfall patterns, as well as what seemed like ever-increasing input costs, led Oliver to rethink the situation.
The first Dexter cows were purchased in 2003 and gradually the farm moved over to the breed completely. On making the decision to go organic in 2009, Oliver said: “I visited a number of organic farms before making the decision. We were doing many of the things already, it was just getting accredited for it. I think there is huge potential for organic farming in the west of Ireland – farmers just need better guidance on it.”
Beef price
“Two years ago, we were getting €5.50/kg for Dexter beef – a lot of it is exported to Belgium and Holland. It is back this year, due to the disruption caused by COIVD-19 to the restaurant trade, but it will recover.”
Read the full story on the Irish Farmers Journal Way Out West page in this weeks’ paper.
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