Dexters as an

Environmentally-Responsible Grazer

Some landowners have chosen to run Dexter cattle because their impact on the land is much less than larger cattle. This applies especially to farms with steeper slopes and wetter ground. Dexters are also hardy and eat a wide range of forage. They can be used to control a variety of weeds. Furthermore, in the UK in the 1990s, local authorities decided to manage areas of moor and heath with conservation grazing. Dexters are one of the cattle breeds chosen for this role, not only because of their smallness and non-aggressive nature, but also because of their rareness and ancient status. Dexters often fit with the cultural and historic values of such areas.

One example of conservation grazing by Dexters is the area of the White Cliffs of Dover with its ancient chalk grassland habitat. In an address to the First World Dexter Congress in 1998, Melanie Wrigley, Senior Project Officer with the White Cliffs Countryside Project, reflected on eight years' experience with Dexters. She explained how the chalk grassland needed to be grazed in order to be conserved. Without grazing, it is invaded by shrubs and trees, and rare grassland plants and animals disappear.

Dexters were chosen as conservation grazers here, and in a number of other cases in the UK, because they eat a wide range of grasses and weeds (and do well on them!), eating back invasive scrub plants like hawthorn and bramble, and, as a small mountain breed, they can easily negotiate steep slopes. As Melanie Wrigley put it, "Dexter cattle are quite goat-like in their ability to manoeuvre in difficult terrain but, unlike goats, they don't... jump easily over fences to escape!"  People using the area found the Dexters very appealing because of their small size and friendly nature. As a result of the Dexter grazing, the chalk grasslands had been restored to its original rich habitat. 

As a hardy and ancient breed, Dexters can be run in an organic farming regime more easily than other cattle breeds. They are more resistant to internal parasites and diseases.

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