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Small cattle ideal for smallholders
The Purebred Dexter Club will hold its 9th annual auction at 1100am on March 11 at the Willem Prinsloo Agricultural Museum, R101 Old Pta road, near Rayton, when topquality animals will come under the hammer of auctioneer Kobus Ehlers of
BKB van Wyk. Because of the limitations on grazing land on smallholdings, smaller breeds of cattle make more sense on plots than the larger breeds, and the smallest of the lot, the Dexter, makes the most sense of all. Proponents of the breed say that kilo for kilo, no bovine can match the diversity of Dexter cattle. Standing just 105cm to 115cm at the shoulder, the Dexter is the only breed that is small by genetics and not through human manipulation. Gentle, versatile and economical, Dexters efficiently turn pasture into rich milk and lean meat. According to the Agricultural Research Council( ARC),“ Its inherent hardiness, together with its foraging ability, lets the Dexter adapt to varied climatic conditions and survive and even produce during severe droughts.”
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Dexters come in two colours ~ black or“ red”( actually, brown)
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