63,000 Miles Since 2000 the Silver Maple Dexters’ trailer has rolled out of the Chambers farm driveway in all seasons and all weather. From those hills of southeast Nebraska it has carried cattle to all corners of this country, more than 63,000 miles.   About 42,000 miles SMD has carried Dexter cattle to shows coast to coast and border to border. Another 21,000 miles of SMD delivering and placing cattle and genetics into new herds and new hands in the U.S. and Canada. Differe

We recently watched an interview [1]  with a forty-year seedstock producer working in a breed supported by one of the most advanced genomic infrastructures in modern livestock agriculture. This breed has developed breed-specific genomics that rest on a dataset exceeding 1.8 million genotypes [2] , the product of decades of coordinated investment, data capture, and validation at a global scale. This represents an investment measured in tens of millions of dollars, sustained ov

We are going to say this plainly, because the cows and calves do not benefit from nuance or silence. There is a body condition problem that is too pervasive in our breed. It is not that cows are “too fat.” It is that far too many are calving in a body condition score (BCS) of 4 or less, and we ignore it at best and act as if it were normal, or worse, as if it were acceptable. On the 1-to-9 body condition scale, 1 is emaciated and 9 is obese. A cow calving in a 5 or 6 is carr

SMD Paycheck Ballan and his boys (steers) at attention: The cattle behind the satire. Stewardship is measured in reality, not lab results. It is a melancholy object, after a quarter-century among these cattle, to watch how quickly we forget what they are for. At every meeting, in every corner of the internet, the same pattern repeats: mention a new test, a new marker, a newly identified shade of color, and the room leans forward as if salvation had arrived by carrier pigeon f

In the annals of Silver Maple Dexters, few names resonate within our farm with the enduring legacy of SMD Octavia Certus #026256, affectionately known as "Tavie." Born of distinguished lineage, sired by Breoch Sultan and from dam SMD Alpha Ceti, Tavie embodied the quintessence of the Dexter breed's dual-purpose heritage.​ SMD Octavia Certus #026256 From her earliest days, “Tavie exhibited that rare quality—call it ‘presence’ or ‘charisma’—but there was always something in her

Genomic testing  is transforming the beef cattle breeding industry. Breeders of major beef breeds are increasingly using genomic testing...

Breed Standards are critically important for the maintenance of breed integrity.

The ideal Dexter cow is characterized by its deep body structure, which is a key feature in the breed standard and specified in the...

We have been asked this question many times over the years, and we are pleased to provide our reasons for not using polled genetics. We...

Satire R Us Ranch is a bit perplexed. We keep hearing about folks that have posted an ISO advertisement for Dexter breeding stock on...