Making the final of the Beef and Lamb New Zealand Steak of Origin Challenge should prove Dexter cattle are a viable commercial breed, breeder Julia Eden says.
Mrs Eden's Dexter-Friesian cross entry is the only Otago-Southland finalist in the competition, the grand final of which is being held tomorrow at the beef expo in Feilding.
The contest, which started nearly a decade ago as a national carcass-conformation competition, has been extended in recent years to include tenderness, taste and other attributes. It attracted 400 entries.
To say she was excited about the making the final was an "understatement", particularly given she was a first-time entrant, Mrs Eden said.
She believed it vindicated the breed, saying she had always known Dexters were potentially "a lot more than a little labradoodle people could go up and pat".
The Dexter breed is the smallest and also one of the oldest types of British cattle. Mrs Eden has been breeding Dexters for the past 12 years, having wanted to have something different.
She and her husband, Stewart, have been using them over their dairy heifers for the past five or six years. The couple milk 1350 cows in an equity partnership and also have a Holstein stud.
They always knew Dexter beef was "exceptionally good", having eaten it themselves. By entering the Steak of Origin, it was an opportunity to find out just how good it was, she said.
Mrs Eden was awarded the Meat and Wool Cup at the last Southland A and P Show - the first time a Dexter has won it - and the past few months had been "huge" for the breed. The Steak of Origin success would boost its profile, she said.
Mr and Mrs Eden will fly north for tomorrow's final.