Small Farm Fall To Do’s
Fall chores around the acreage will help transition your small farm or acreage into winter
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/fall-chores-acreage
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Farm ManagementSeptember 2026
Heifers Transition into Motherhood
Four Ways to Help Heifers Transition into Motherhood.
https://bi-animalhealth.com/cattle/articles/four-ways-to-help-heifers-transition-into-motherhood
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Herd Health
Clostridial Diseases and Pinkeye
For Clostridial Diseases and Pinkeye, Prevention Is Better than Treatment
https://bi-animalhealth.com/cattle/dairy/clostridial-diseases-pinkeye
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Herd Health
Top 3 Mistakes Selling Direct-to-Consumer
Don’t make these mistakes if you’re just getting started on your farm!
Top 3 Mistakes Selling Direct-to-Consumer Read More »
Selling
If You buy a trained Dexter milk cow….
By Sue Pollington
If you spend the money to buy a trained Dexter milk cow please define what you expect by this and tell the seller you choose.
Does this mean halter trained, lead trained, stanchion trained, milking trained, trailer trained?
When I was buying my first cow, I wanted a trained milk cow that I could halter, lead, and who would stand to be milked and had been milked. What I got was a cow pregnant with her second calf who has been milked, she could be haltered and would kind of be lead. She had never ridden in a trailer or been in a stanchion.
This brings up an important point. Find out how a cow has been trained to milk. My first cow was trained to come into a milking parlor, go to a trough with hay and stand there to be milked while she ate. She was not tied or haltered for this. Luckily for me, my first cow had a great temperament, was patient, understanding and willing, so she would let me fail and we could both find a way to make it work together.
Just as you will be training your cow, they will also be training you.
Within our first lactation (milking season) together, my first cow and I got really good at leading, she learned to enjoy the stanchion, I learned to milk with lots of help from my cow. We have become very comfortable together and I am looking forward to her next calf in the Spring so I get to milk her again.
Sue Pollington
If You buy a trained Dexter milk cow…. Read More »
Selling
SELLING OUT at the Farmers Market!
This is the season for selling out at the farmers market!
SELLING OUT at the Farmers Market! Read More »
BeefDexters – Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow By Danielle Lowther
Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow
How did the Poor Man’s Cow become owned by the wealthy and famous. Dexters and Kerry Cattle became recognized for their unique hardy attributes, Kerry for milk and Dexter for milk and meat. Dexters were known to get by on less, produce rich milk and raise a healthy vigorous calf for their owner’s table. Dexters were bred to their breed specific traits transforming them from just any poor Irish cows to these 2 beautiful, registered Dexter cows we see in these two later photos.
They were rare and they were at risk of being cross bred out of existence, but breeders in Ireland started selecting and registering Dexter cattle with breed defining traits to preserve and register them in a herd book. Once the promotion of Dexters began every wealthy aristocrat wanted one. All of a sudden, they were not the Poor Man’s cow but rather for a short spell until the numbers grew, cattle that only the wealthy could afford. Consider as this article states a $200 dollar Dexter cow from 1915. This is the equivalent of $6221.78. I checked multiple inflation calculators to verify that number as being correct. With the highest price the ad mentions at $350 in 1915, you would pay $10,936.81 today! Consider today we pay less for quality breeding stock. Rarity always drives the price up and just like with the rarity of gold it dictates the price.
Registered cows were important then and today. Registered Dexters will always hold a higher value than unregistered. Still with Dexters it took devoted breeders to breed Dexters according to the Dexter Standard to the highest quality like the 2 cows you see in the photographs. Not every Dexter cow was nearly as ideal as these two beauties. Compton Daphne, I speculate is a Chondro Carrier while Grinstead Watercress I speculate to be a non-carrier. Of course, we can never go back and test them so it’s just speculation. Both are extremely well bred and both fit the standard well.
So, as you can see Dexters are a dual-purpose breed that can be bred by multiple types of people regardless of fortune because they are a great pick for everyone. Whether you’re a small homesteader trying to save money with a thrifty headache free cow or someone who just wants to raise them as beautiful lawn mowers true Dexters are a great fit for these reasons and so many more!
30 Jan 1915 is the date of article written.
Photo of cattle in town are common type of Celtic cow that roamed Ireland.
Other two photos are of registered Dexters.
Dexters – Poor Man’s Cow to Luxury Cow By Danielle Lowther Read More »
Historical
Growing my business with GrownBY
By Eliena Bodtke, Stay’N Put Farm
I have had a small soap business for years. It has been a very manual order process. So, when someone was needed to test the GrownBy site for the next phase of the Irish Dexter Cattlemen website, I decided it was time for me to have an easier way to order. It also gave me the added benefits of being able to sell my Irish Dexter cattle and Nubian goats without having to set up my own website. Everything in one place, with no knowledge of set up or having to maintain my own website.
Well I have to tell you….this has been a most enjoyable experience. From the ease of using the site, to the help that is available from the GrownBy team at the drop of a hat. I can edit, add or remove things with little effort. But the really exciting thing was having metrics to be able to see if the site was working for me. The first time I checked how many had clicked on my site it said 163…WOW! I started working on my site in May and had yet to check the metrics out. I shared it on my FB page and on the IDC site once, well maybe twice and boom a week later 193 visits. The other notable is that my order size increased. Not by a little, a lot! We are still working on GrownBY handling the shipping component, but the problem is at my end, not theirs, everything has to be weighed and then the zip code has to be taken into consideration. The work around is pick up at farm and handling the shipping afterward…or adding to the price the average shipping…but I’m working on that.
The long and short of it is, not only is the site working for me for selling my soaps and shampoos. It provides an easy link for my customers to go to and see what I have available …and helps me with driving what needs to be made and stocked. And maybe they will consider some of the adorable bucks we have currently for sale!
I didn’t need to learn another language or program, all I had to do was share it, so people know where to look.
Another added benefit is, you can see other farms in your area …that you might want to visit or buy from. It’s farmers! Yup, farmers, you are working with other farmers. So if you have a soap business like me, or just a few animals to sell, or a CSA, you really should check it out.
I hope you have the same experience as I have had….now off to make another soap and build that inventory.
Check out my new online e-commerce store https://grownby.app/farms/stay-n-put-farm/shop
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Selling
Instant Pot Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe
Cottage cheese made the easy whey….
Instant Pot Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe Read More »
Milking
Who knew tenderness is directly correlated to easy keeper Submitted by Jeff Reusser, Royal Fare Farm
With all the talk about marbling and beef tenderness, here is something to consider…marbling does not equal tenderness…taste yes…tenderness no. And selecting for easy keepers can be a great step selecting the best beef from your herd.
SMALL CATTLE CARRY AWAY BIG HONORS
This article written in Gloucestershire on 27th March 1986 represents a long memorable chapter of the pages in History of Dexter cattle. The Dexter in this article is being noted as truly dual purposed, possessing fine quality small joints of beef, all the while being able to suckle two calves at once and raise 8 commercial calves in one year. This all seems an even more amazing feat when you consider one of the cows being spoke of was 34 inches. Thirty-four inches, how many Dexters today meet these amazing statistics? This article when I compared to other historical information sites a higher average milk production than some historical amounts in Dexters that I have seen at 4.5 gallons per day. This figure is not rare by any means but not necessarily a given rate with some Dexters producing a bit less.
Dexters are being stated as being small and valuable for grazing under plum trees so as not to damage the trees. At the time of this article, Dexters are listed on the Rare Breed Survival Trust, but are no longer being listed as endangered as they once were prior to the articles printing. When we consider today with so many pedigree Dexters in great numbers it is hard for many to believe that Dexetrs were once so rare. But yet how many rare Jems are left like the Dexters being mentioned from these days, just back in 1986? Perhaps the Dexter of 1986 is rarer than we think.
SMALL CATTLE CARRY AWAY BIG HONORS Read More »
Historical
History of the Dexter Breed
The Dexter originated in the South Western region of Ireland.
History of the Dexter Breed Read More »
Historical