Dexter Beef

Delicious Dexter grass-fed beef!

We rear Dexter cattle, on the upland pastures of Donegal. When they are ready for slaughter we take our cattle to a local high-welfare butchery facility for processing, to harvest the highest quality beef. We then dry mature it for 3 weeks to intensify the flavour before being cut to our customers specification.

Our cows lead a completely natural life as far as possible, grazing and browsing the native vegetation, all year round. This means they have a very high quality of life and are much healthier than animals which are intensively fed.

Our beef doesn’t leave Donegal at any point in its production, having been processed by our local butcher and packaged by us, you can be sure there are minimal food miles!

Originating in the 18th century, the Dexter cow is a dual purpose cow, native to Ireland. The breed was bred from the Kerry and Mountain cattle by a Mr. Dexter in County Tipperary and was once known as the cottier cow or poor mans cow. They thrive on low-quality pastures also eat weeds and unwanted vegetation. This contributes to the “spider” marbling and unique flavour and for this reason Dexter Cattle are used for conservation grazing in the UK and now in many parts of Ireland. Dexter beef is naturally more tender than other beef and contains more Omega-3 fatty acids. Requiring little veterinary attention that live on grass all year round, they are truly free range. 

They are known for their ability to adapt to varying and extreme climatic conditions and to different systems of management. Their small size and weight also ensure they do less damage to damp, water logged land. The cows are exceptionally good mothers, hiding their calves almost from birth if they have cover for them to hide. Some produce enough milk to feed two or three calves, and often willingly nurse calves from other cows. They are known for easy calving.

Unfortunately, the breed began facing a decline in the 20th century as producers began to favour larger continental breeds, however, against all the odds, the breed has had a remarkable comeback in recent years; a trend we very much intend to continue and contribute to. 

Dexter beef is the right choice when choosing high-quality, environmentally friendly meat.