IDCS Newsletter Jan 2023
The Chairman John O’Neil and the Council members wish the breeders a Very Happy New Year and good breeding for 2023.
In Jan 2022 the IDCS had 263 members, by the 22.10.22 there were 398 members and by the 7th Dec 2022 the IDCS now has 734 active members. This increase is mainly, but not entirely, due to the ACRES scheme. Eight of these members have joined as Associate Members and three of these come from Canada, Netherlands and the UK, so there is an international interest in the IDCS.
At the end of Sept 2021 there were 1,649 breeding females in members herds 337 x 2 yr old heifers and 99 stock bulls. One year later at the end of Oct 2022 there were 2,283 breeding females, 585 x 2 yr old heifers and 138 stock bulls in members herds.
As the numbers are expanding the council members decided to form a Working Group to promote the marketing of Dexter Beef, this group is chaired by John Comerford and is currently working hard, with the assistance of Bord Bia, on the marketing aspects of Dexter beef.
For the purposes of local communication, the country was divided into 9 regional WhatsApp groups through which members can gain local knowledge and practical help from their neighbours. Please give as much assistance to our new members as possible – Dexters can be a bit different!
The Donegal regional group organised a very successful show and sale on 18th Nov. 81 Dexter animals were entered and 78 were sold on the night with the top price of €1,800 going to Desmond McFadden’s cow with a bull calf at foot (Lot 81, Screig Laura) followed closely by Alywn Longs Stock bull Lot 3 Ballyboley Barney for €1,750
The Donegal region also organise monthly gatherings with a speaker dealing with a suitable topic. Other regions have organised zoom meetings, participation in KT groups, farm walks etc.
A few basic rules, for the benefit of our new members, that apply to pedigree breeding of Dexters:
- Do NOT cross a short on a short, the result could be a bulldog calf which will not live.
- When buying a Dexter always get the pedigree cert with the animal and find out the details of the bull she is in calf to.
- All sires and dams must have an IRISH genomic record before a calf can be fully registered to them. Hair sample kits for genomic testing can be ordered through the IDCS website, €25.00 each or directly from ICBF. Genotyping creates a record by which calves can be parent verified, it does not turn an animal with very little records into a pedigree animal, only the record of the parents and grandparents can do that.
- From 1.1.2022 no calf has been registered unless its parents have a genomic record so any calf born after 1.1.2022 that subsequently fails to its sire or dam will be deregistered, therefore great care should be taken to ensure that the correct parents are recorded for every calf registered.
- Always give the office the full correct tag number to identify an animal, it will save a lot of time.